The Targeted Hanyou
by mangaanime15
Summary: Sesshoumaru never get along with his 7 years old little brother, Inuyasha. However, something happened. Now, Inuyasha is targeted by an evil organization. What they want from him? Can Sesshoumaru save Inuyasha? How Shikon Jewel is related to Inuyasha?
1. Chapter 1: Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

CHAPTER 1: Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru did not know what to do and think when he heard his father want to marry again. Not with some youkai woman but a human woman. A miko. He knew youkai and human have coexisted for a long time. However, it was weird to see a youkai fall in love with human and have a child together. This made Sesshoumaru so mad. He felt that his father has forgotten his late mother. "Don't father love his mother at all? Why he wants to marry again?" he thought. Even so, he knew that he cannot let his father felt lonely for his entire life. But still, does he need to marry a human?

If that was not devastating enough, his father has a child with his new stepmother. His name is Inuyasha. A hanyou. Sesshoumaru really did not know what to do now. What should he do? What everyone would think if they know his half brother was a hanyou? Everyone especially his friends at school will definitely make fun out of him. For this very reason, he tried as hard as he can to not speak about his little brother in front of people and avoid his little brother at school.

Yeah, he and his brother studied at the same school, Sengoku Academy. The academy is an integrated school. It has from kindergarden until high school section. Sesshoumaru is a middle school student while Inuyasha is an elementary school student. Even though they studied at the same school, that did not mean they were getting along. Everyday, he will purposely left home early so he did not have to walk along with his brother to the school. His father was not pleased with his attitude but he did not care. Father cannot make him to do everything that he wants. To show his protest and rebellious, Sesshoumaru often talked back to his father. Sometimes, he acted rudely to his stepmother. Sometimes, he bullied or scared his half brother by telling him a horror story which was not suitable for his age. And every time, his father will scold and smack him. He really did not get along with his father.

Strangely, it was always his stepmother who cooled down his father's anger and saved him from his father's wrath. However, it was still not enough for him to accept her as her mother. He knew his stepmother was kind, gentle and sweet. In fact, he really cannot blame his father for falling in love with her in the first place. Who won't fall in love with a miko who has great spiritual power, beauty and kindness? Sesshoumaru knew his stepmother tried hard to get along and know him. Despite his rude behavior toward her, she still kind and care for him. He knew that. It just that he can't accept her easily. This always caused his father to get angry which always led to a great fight between them.

So, when he learned that his father will be away for a while due to a business trip, he was very relieved. That until he found out that he needed to stay with his stepmother and help her to look after his little brother. This was really not what he has expected. He did not want to get stuck with his little brother. That seven years old brat with long silver hair and golden eyes always get him annoyed. He was too hyperactive and curious. Inuyasha will often ask him silly questions. Sesshoumaru that, Sesshoumaru this. If that was not enough, Inuyasha will often ask Sesshoumaru to play with him even though he has made it clearly that he did not want to play with him. But the most annoying thing was how he called him. He called him Sesshy. Can you believe that? He, Sesshoumaru, the most popular guy in the school was called like that. What would his friends and fans do if they found out this?

Therefore, when his stepmother asked him to look after Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru was very reluctant. He did not want to play and spend time with his little brother. But again, he did not really have a choice. His stepmother gave him two choices. Either take care Inuyasha or help her with the house works such as laundering, washing dishes and cooking. He definitely did not like the second choice. So, he decided to take Inuyasha to the park. With heavy heart, he went to take Inuyasha with him.

"Inuyasha, if you want to go to the park, hurry up and let's go", Sesshoumaru shouted.

"Okay, Sesshy", answered Inuyasha. His goldeneyes were filled with happiness. His big brother has decided to spend time and play with him. He was so happy. He really wanted to play with his big brother. He cannot miss this opportunity. He loved his brother even though Sesshoumaru often played cruel prank on him.

"That name again", Sesshoumaru mumbled, "Can't he called my name properly?"

Before they go, Izayoi came out from the kitchen. "Please be careful on your way", Izayoi said warmly," especially when Soul Stealer is still out there".

"Yeah,yeah, alright", Sesshoumaru answered his stepmother absent mindedly. He did not pay much attention to what his stepmother said although he knew it was not wise to neglect it. Inuyasha look at his brother and mother with curious eyes. "What is Soul Stealer? Maybe I should ask Sesshy on our way to the park".

Sesshoumaru took Inuyasha's hand. On their way to the park, none of them spoke. Finally, unable to bear the silence any longer, Inuyasha asked a question to Sesshoumaru. "Hey, Sesshy, what is Soul Stealer?" shaking Sesshoumaru's hand and gave him a cute puppy eyes. "Here goes again", Sesshoumaru sighed "Can't he just keep quiet?"

"Soul Stealer is an evil organization. They steal people's soul. They steal it whether it is youkai or human's soul. Many people have become their victims", Sesshoumaru explained.

"What happen to people whose soul has been stolen? Are they died?" Inuyasha asked. He started to get interested with this so called organization.

"No, they are still alive. But, they become like an empty shelled doll. Unable to do anything at all".

"So, they are bad guys".

"Yes".

"Why they do that?"

"Don't know"

"Can the victims turn to normal again?"

"Don't know".

"Is it safe to go to the park now?"

"I suppose".

Inuyasha wanted to asked more. There were a lot of things that he did not understand. But, before he can ask another question, Sesshoumaru snapped, "Stop asking me questions already. If not, I won't take you to the park". Hearing this, Inuyasha become silent. He did not want his big brother to hate him like other kids in the school. They often bullied him. Pulling his triangular puppy ears hard. It hurt him. So, he kept quiet.

When they reached the park, they saw the park was empty. It was probably because of Soul Stealer. Many people took precautious steps. They spent time as little as possible outside their house. They did not want to become the Soul Stealer's target. Until now, no one knew their motive in stealing the soul. Rumours said if you met them, you won't survive. Sesshoumaru was very uneasy with this empty park. But, he couldn't just turn back and walk home. He was the one who decided to go to the park. If he went back just because the park was empty, it will make him look like a coward. "Oh, well. What could happen? With my nose and ears, I can sense anything immediately", he though.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, was very happy. There was no one in the park which means the whole park was for him alone. He can play as much as he wanted without fearing some kids came to bully him. It was fun until the wind suddenly blew so strong. Sesshoumaru quickly went to Inuyasha's side. He can sense danger. Before them, a mysterious woman appeared. She has pretty face and wore beautiful clothes. She smiled to them. However, this did not make Sesshoumaru let his guard down.

"Who are you? Why are….." Before Sesshoumaru could finish his question, the woman attacked him using two snake shikigami. He barely dodged the attack. With his speed, he grabbed Inuyasha and put him on a safe place.

"Stay here", Sesshoumaru ordered. Inuyasha just nodded. He was scared. He was more scared when he saw blood coming from the cut on Sesshoumaru's cheek. He did not want his big brother to die.

"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru asked the woman again in a calm controlled angry voice. He did not like to show outsider his emotion.

The women just laughed and answered, "My name is Tsubaki, one of the Soul Stealer. I come to steal your soul".

With that, she ordered the snake shikigami to attacked Sesshoumaru. "Well, it probably in your dream, old hag", Sesshoumaru answered as he ripped apart the snake shikigami with his claws. Tsubaki was shocked to see Sesshoumaru kill her shikigami and hear him calling her an old hag. Later, the shock turned into an angry.

"How dare you! How dare you kill my shikigami and call me old hag! You will pay for this. I don't want your soul anymore. I want to kill you!" Tsubaki screamed.

She suddenly fired two arrows at the same time. Sesshoumaru did not have time to avoid it. The arrows hit both his legs. It burned his legs. Sesshoumaru screamed in pain. Inuyasha who was watching the fight was shocked and terrified. He never saw his brother in pain like that. He needed to do something to save him. But, he was too scared to move.

Tsubaki smiled, "How do you like my purification arrows? Now, I'm going to purify you in one shot".

Sesshoumaru stared in horror. Purification arrow? This woman has a miko's power? This was very bad for Sesshoumaru since he was a full youkai. A purification arrow can kill a youkai. He still did not have the skills and experiences to handle a miko's power like his father. Even worse, he cannot dodge the arrow. His legs hurt badly.

Tsubaki shot the arrow with intensified spiritual energy. Sesshoumaru who knew that he cannot do anything prepared himself for the impact. Suddenly, he heard a yell.

"Sesshy!" screamed Inuyasha. He pushed away Sesshoumaru out of the arrow's path. However, the arrow hit Inuyasha, right on his chest. Blood coming out from Inuyasha's body. Sesshoumaru stared in horror. He quickly caught Inuyasha's body before he fell on the ground.

"INUYASHA!" he screamed.

p.s. This is my first fanfiction. So, please be nice to me. Review and comment are always welcome.


	2. Chapter 2: Enter Kikyou

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 2: Enter Kikyou

"INUYASHA!", Sesshoumaru screamed.

He did not know what to do. He was very shocked. He didn't expect his half brother would jump in front of him and take the hit. Not after how he treated him everyday. Sesshoumaru held Inuyasha in his arm. "What should I do? He didn't move at all. I need to get him to the hospital quickly". Sesshoumaru tried to stand up. He knew he needed to get Inuyasha to hospital. However, he cannot move. His legs were injured badly. He can't stand up at all. "Think, think, Sesshoumaru! There must be something you can do. You need to get out from here!" Sesshoumaru screamed to himself in his head.

Unknown to Sesshoumaru, he was not the only one who was surprised and shocked with what has happened. Tsubaki was shocked too. She cannot understand what has happened. She just used one of her strongest purification arrow. It can purify and turn a huge, strong youkai into dust in a blink of eyes. Yet, something different happened in front of her eyes. The little youkai brat in front of her should have been purified by her arrow even though it missed the real target. However, it did not happen. The little brat was still there, in his elder brother's arm.

"Did I not put enough spiritual power? No, I have put more spiritual power in this one compare to the other two previous arrows. So, what has happened? The arrow has more than enough power to take down adult youkai even if they know how to deal with a miko's power".

Tsubaki was very confused. It can be seen on her never happened before. There was no youkai that she cannot purify or turn into dust. For a moment, she just stared the two brothers confusedly. Sesshoumaru did not aware of Tsubaki's facial expression. He did not notice Tsubaki's shock and confusion. He only focused his attention to his little brother. Inuyasha was still breathing. However, he still did not move, open his eyes or give any signs that he was okay. Sesshoumaru tried to wake Inuyasha up by yelling his name. However, his efforts were fruitless.

Sesshoumaru's yell and scream bring Tsubaki back to the reality. She tried to regain her composure as quick as possible. If people knew she get panicked over something like this, they will definitely laugh at him.

"Come on, Tsubaki. Get a grip. You are a dark miko. Don't get shaken over something like this. They are just only a brat. The little brother will definitely die even if you cannot purify him. He will die because of blood loss for sure", Tsubaki told herself in her heart.

With that, she took a new arrow and aimed at the two brothers. "This time, I will use more spiritual power. Surely, they cannot escape from me now". She knew Sesshoumaru will not be able to dodge her with his injured legs. Much less to carry his little brother. Sesshoumaru who was too busy with his little brother did not realized what Tsubaki intended to do.

"DIED!", Tsubaki yelled. Sesshoumaru was startled at Tsubaki's yell. "This is the end", he closed his eyes and waited for the arrow to hit him. However, it never came. He only heard Tsubaki screaming in pain and cursing someone. He opened his eyes slowly. A young lady in a miko outfit was standing in front of him with arrow and bow in her hand.

"Damn you, Kikyou! What are you doing here?" Tsubaki screamed in anger. Her beautiful appearance has slowly changed into ugly and old.

"To stop you, of course", Kikyou answered.

Sesshoumaru did not know what to do. It appeared to him that both of them knew each other. However, from their conversation, it looked like they did not get along with each other. Possibly, both of them are enemy. The young lady with long black hair turned to Sesshoumaru. However, she still did not look away from Tsubaki. She looked older than Sesshoumaru. It is possible that she was in high school. From her family seal on her miko outfit, Sesshoumaru knew that she was from Higurashi family.

Higurashi family was the protector of the city. They kept peace and harmony in the city. They ensured that youkai and human can live together peacefully. It was said that every member in Higurashi family has strong spiritual power than other people. Under their protection, no chaos has happened. That until Soul Stealer showed up. Nobody knew where they came from. Nobody knew whether they were youkai or human. Nobody knew anything about them except that they have created a great havoc in the city. The Higurashi family tried as best as they can to fight and catch them but there was no luck.

"Are you okay?" Kikyou asked.

"Yeah. But, my little brother is not okay. That witch shoots a purification arrow to him. I can't get it off from him. Please save him", Sesshoumaru begged desperately.

Kikyou wanted to look at Inuyasha's wound. But, before she could do that, Tsubaki summoned a huge snake shikigami to attack her. Kikyou barely dodged the snake's attack. She quickly cast a protection barrier around her and the two brothers. She did not want them to get hurt any more. The snake did not stop its attack. It tried to break the barrier with its tail. It hit the barrier hard several times until a crack appeared on the barrier. The snake continued to hit the barrier. More and more crack can be seen on the barrier.

"Ha, Ha, Ha …. Your barrier will be destroyed at any time now! This is your end!" Tsubaki laughed.

Kikyou knew what Tsubaki said was true. The barrier will be tear down at any time. She needed to do something before that happen. If not, they will not walk away from hear alive. With that, she gathered and focused her spiritual power on her arrow and aimed accurately at the large snake. Before the snake gave a final strike that destroyed the barrier, she shoot the arrow. It hit the snake's head and caused it to explode.

"Damn it!" Tsubaki yelled.

"I won't loss. I won't loss to her again", Tsubaki said to herself.

She really did not want to loss to Kikyou. She wanted to destroy her. That pretty face of Kikyou who took away men from her. She really did not understand why many men fall in love with her. She was far more better than Kikyou.

It was obvious that Tsubaki was very jealous at Kikyou. Kikyou was beautiful, graceful, kind and has more spiritual power than her. More importantly, she was younger than her. Tsubaki always blamed Kikyou for her inability to attract men. She was envied with Kikyou's talent and beauty. Therefore, she decided to walk on dark path. She chose to become a dark miko. A dark miko used youkai and miko power for evil deeds. Even so, she still cannot defeat Kikyou. Even after involving deeper into forbidden arts.

She almost started to loss her hope to beat Kikyou until that man showed up. That's right. Until the man with baboon cloth showed up. His name was Naraku. He showed up of nowhere with his underlinings and offered her a chance in a life time. A chance to become beautiful and young forever. A chance to beat Kikyou. For this very reason, she joined the Soul Stealer.

"That's right. We will complete our plan. We shall make our dream to rule world come true".

With this though, she smiled at herself. But first, she must get rid Kikyou. Then, she will kill those brats who called her an old hag. She quickly bring out her shikigami paper. She wanted to create a larger and stronger snake shikigami. She wanted to end this affair as quickly as possible. She did not like to use much of her power because using too much power will drain away her youth and beauty. She did not want that to happen.

Unfortunately, before she can create and summon the snake shikigami, Kikyou noticed what she intended to do. Kikyou knew if she let Tsubaki summoned another shikigami, they will be in a great danger. She has used a lot of her power to set up the barrier and destroy the large snake shikigami. Kikyou quickly shot another arrow to Tsubaki. It pierced through her arm. The arm that holding the shikigami paper. Tsubaki screamed in pain.

Tsubaki wanted to fight back. However, Kikyou's arrow gave her a great damage. She cannot use her right hand which means she cannot summon another snake shikigami. Not only that, her beautiful face has completely turned into an ugly, hideous face. She knew she was not in a state to fight. She has to retreat. She reluctantly wanted to admit it. But, there was no choice.

"Don't be so happy about this. I shall come back. And when that happen, you all will doom", Tsubaki warned before she disappeared into thin air.

Kikyou let out a relief sigh. "That was closed", she though.

Then, she immediately turned her attention to the two brothers. She needed to examine their injuries. Even though they were youkai and not human like herself, she cannot allow herself to be prejudiced.

"What's your name?"

"Sesshoumaru"

"And your little brother's?"

"It's Inuyasha"

Kikyou quickly examined their injuries.

"Hmm… The elder brother does not have any life threatening injuries. He only hurts his legs and has cuts and bruises only. On the other hand, the little brother has …..",

Kikyou could not believe her own eyes and was very shocked as much as Tsubaki. The boy has been shot with a very strong purification arrow. It was amazing that he has not been purified and turned into a dust right now. She quickly removed the arrow from Inuyasha's chest and threw it away on the ground. Before the arrow reached the ground, it disappeared with black smoke. More blood coming from Inuyasha's chest. Kikyou tore her sleeve and pressed it on Inuyasha's chest. She needed to make the blood stop flowing out.

"Can you hold it for me? I want to call some help. We needed to get him to hospital as soon as possible", Kikyou asked Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru just nodded. He will do anything if it can save Inuyasha. He could almost imagine the worst case scenario. What should he tell to his father and stepmother? What would be their reaction? He could imagine how her stepmother will break down and cry when she knew what happened to Inuyasha.

A few minutes later, an ambulance came. The paramedics tried as best as they can to give first aid treatment to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru before they reached the hospital. Both of them were carried on the same ambulance. Kikyou came along too. She wanted to make sure both of them save especially the little brother. She did not really know the real reason why she wanted to tag along. Probably because she was curious on why the little youkai boy could survive such strong purification arrow or probably because she was worried since she has a younger sister at the same age as that boy. The same thing could happen to her sister. Kikyou was horrified at that thought.

As the paramedics carried Inuyasha into the ambulance, something strange happened. Inuyasha's body started to glow. His silvered hair suddenly became black. His claws and fangs disappeared. His triangular puppy ears have turned into human ears. That's right. Inuyasha has turned into a human. Sesshoumaru was shocked and horrified at the same time. He could not hide it. Inuyasha has started to bleed again.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Are you okay?" Sesshoumaru screamed.

Everyone was shocked too including Kikyou. They have never seen anything like this in front of them. If it was not because of Sesshoumaru's scream, they probably will stay there and do nothing except gazing that boy. The paramedics quickly checked Inuyasha's condition. They can still detect his pulse. That was a relief but he will die soon if they cannot get him to the hospital. Without any delay, they quickly head to the hospital. On all the way to hospital, Sesshoumaru held Inuyasha's hand.

Kikyou could see that Sesshoumaru really worried about his little brother. She put her hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder and said "Don't worry. He will definitely be okay". Sesshoumaru just nodded. He really hoped so.

Unknown to them, they were watched by a man who wore a baboon clothes from a far place. It was Naraku. He smiled evilly, "Finally. I finally found the most important thing in my plan." He then disappeared as the ambulance leave the park.

p.s.: Thank you for all of your review and comment. I really appreciate it. Again, constructive review and comment are always welcomed.


	3. Chapter 3: Tormenting Hours In Hospital

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 3: Tormenting Hours In Hospital

"Crash!"

A plate fall on the kitchen's floor and broke. Izayoi was shocked. She just broke a plate while washing the dishes. For a moment, she just stared at the broken plate. For some reason, she has a bad feeling. She did not know whether it was her instinct as a miko or mother that made her felt like that. All she knew was something terrible will happen. For some reason too, she kept thinking about her sons. Both of her sons. Even though Sesshoumaru still cannot accept her as his new mother completely, she still worried and cared him like his own son.

Izayoi looked at the clock. It was almost time to prepare the dinner. She planned to make curry for tonight's dinner. She quietly picked the broken plate carefully. "We don't want anybody to get because of it, right?", she said to herself.

After she cleaned the broken plate, she started to make and prepare the dinner. However, she was interrupted by a phone's call. Again, for some reason, she has this urge to rush and pick the phone as quickly as possible. She has a feeling that this call will give her a great shock and she was right. The call was from hospital.

"Hello, this is from Sengoku Hospital. We want to inform you that both of your sons have been attacked by Soul Stealer. We really appreciate it if you can come here as soon as possible to see you sons and…..".

Izayoi was horrified. She was too shocked and terrified that she did not hear properly what the nurse in the phone said. As soon as she put down the phone, she grabbed her purse and key. She was so in hurry that she almost forgot to lock the house. She got in the car and drove to the hospital as quickly as possible.

"Oh, please be okay. Both of you, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru", she prayed silently in her heart.

As soon as she reached the hospital, she quickly inquired the nurse in the hospital about her sons. The nurse briefly told her about her sons' situation and led her the way to the emergency room.

"Please do not be worry. Your elder son is okay. The doctor has treated him. He's not in a grave danger", the nurse said.

"That's good", Izayoi answered with relief. "What about my younger son?" she asked.

The nurse was not so sure on how to answer Izayoi's question. With hesistation, she said, "Your younger son is not very okay. He loses a lot of blood. Right now, he is in the emergency room. But, please do not worry. The doctors are trying as hard as they can to save him".

Izayoi was very terrified when she heard what the nurse said. The nurse tried to comfort her by telling her that there was nothing to worry about. However, it clearly did not work. She was too worried that she did not bother at all with what the nurse said or did. When she reached outside the emergency room, she saw Sesshoumaru in bandages and unfamiliar long black haired lady in miko outfit.

"Sesshoumaru!" Izayoi called.

Sesshoumaru turned to the voice that called him. It was Izayoi, his stepmother.

"Mom", Sesshoumaru answered.

It was kind of weird to Sesshoumaru when he called her as mom. He did not like her. But, that did not mean he hated her. He just couldn't accept her completely. That's all. So, yeah, it was kind of weird to Sesshoumaru even though it has been eight years since his father married his stepmother. At the beginning, he refused to call her as mom. However, as time passed, he started to call her as mom. This did not mean he has accepted her. To show this, he sometimes acted rudely to his stepmother.

"Are you okay, Sesshoumaru?" Izayoi asked.

"Yeah", Sesshoumaru answered.

"How is Inuyasha?"

At this question, Sesshoumaru really did not know what to answer. He gazed into his stepmother's eyes. There was worry in her eyes. He knew this question will pop out sooner or later. He has to face it.

"In the emergency room. He has been there for about two hours".

Sesshoumaru recounted what has happened in the park to his stepmother. He told her everything as much as possible. How they were attacked by Tsubaki, one of the Soul Stealer member. How Inuyasha took the hit for him. And lastly, how they were saved by Kikyou. It was kind of hard and painful to tell the story to his stepmother. Luckily, Kikyou was there to help him out. For a while, there was a silence moment between them.

"I'm sorry. I should be able to look after him better," Sesshoumaru broke the silence moment.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. At least, both of you are alive. I'm sure Inuyasha will be just fine", Izayoi tried to comfort him. At the same time, she tried to ease her own fear. She gave a hug to Sesshoumaru. The hug was warm and gentle. For some reason, this made Sesshoumaru slightly felt better. Izayoi turned to Kikyou to thank her.

"Thank you for saving them."

"It's okay. It is part of my job." Kikyou hesitated for a moment. Should she ask the questions? There were a lot of things that she wanted to ask. For example, are the two boys were really her children. She did not want to be rude to this woman. It was clearly that the woman in front of her has a strong spiritual power. She knew that Higurashi family was not the only one with strong spiritual power. There were some people out there who possessed the similar strong spiritual power.

"Yes, what is it?" Izayoi knew Kikyou wanted to ask her something.

"Please forgive me if my questions are rude," Kikyou pulsed for a moment and continue, "I can see that you have a strong spiritual. Are you a miko?"

"Yes but I stopped after I get married with my husband. He's a youkai"

Kikyou gasped. She knew youkai and human has gotten along for a long time. But, it was extremely rare to see a youkai and human fall in love with each other and got married.

"So, both of them are really your children?" Kikyou asked in shocked. She later blushed when she realized how loud she has been. At first, she though Izayoi adopted the two boys. It was common lately for a youkai to adopt human children or for a human to adopt youkai children. Izayoi just smiled. This was not the first time to happen. In fact, it has happened many times. Most people often thought her children were her adopted children. It was clear that Kikyou thought the same thing too.

"Yes, both of them are my children. The elder one is my stepson while the younger one is my own child with my husband," Izayoi answered calmly.

Kikyou wanted to continue their conversation. However, the door to the emergency room suddenly opened. A doctor with surgery clothes came to their direction. He looked serious. Sesshoumaru can smelt blood on him. It was Inuyasha's blood. He became uneasy. "Please do not bring bad news," he prayed silently in his heart.

"May I know who is Inuyasha's family?" the doctor asked.

"We are," Izayoi said.

"Well, your son is really a unique case. It likes he is a mix of human and youkai. He has spiritual power and youkai power. I do not know whether it is a good thing or not. One thing for sure the spiritual arrow really did give him some great injuries. Normally, he would be purified and turned into dust. However, his spiritual power apparently protects him from the arrow's power. The arrow causes him to turn into human instead of being purified," the doctor explained.

"Will he be okay? Will he survive? Can he change into normal again?" Sesshoumaru asked the doctor desperately. It seemed things were pretty bad from the doctor's explaination. Izayoi too wondered the same thing.

"He will be okay. We have stopped the bleeding. I think he will get back his youkai form after completely recover. However, we do not know when he will regain his consciousness. Please excuse me." With that explanation, the doctor went to attend other patience.

Sesshoumaru, Izayoi and Kikyou were relieved with the news. Inuyasha was in a stable condition. He will be okay. Later, Inuyasha was transferred into a room in the children ward. Sesshoumaru who was put in different room stubbornly wanted to be in the same room with his brother. He wanted to wait Inuyasha to wake up. There were a lot of things that he wanted to say and apologize to him. He will stay there until Inuyasha woke up. The doctors and nurses gave in to his stubbornness after they realized that Sesshoumaru would not budge from his decision.

Later, a nurse came to them. She wanted Izayoi to come and resolve some issues regarding the admission of the two brothers into the hospital. Izayoi was not so sure. She wanted to stay with them. She did not want to leave them alone. Not after what has happened. She wanted to be there when her son woke up. She also knew she cannot leave Sesshoumaru alone just like that. He was not only hurt physically but mentally too. She knew very well that her stepson felt very guilty with what has happened.

Kikyou seemed to be aware of Izayoi's dilemma. She put her hand on Izayoi's shoulder and said, "Its okay. I will look after both of them while you are away. If anything happens, I'll let you know immediately."

Izayoi nodded and replied, "Thank you. I'll be back as soon as possible." She knew she can trust Kikyou. Izayoi followed the nurse. As soon as Izayoi leave the room, Kikyou turned her attention to the two brothers. Inuyasha was still lie on the bed unconsciously in his human form. Beside him was his brother, Sesshoumaru. It was obvious that he was worried about his little brother even though he tried to remain expressionless. He held his little brother's hand gently.

"It was not your fault," Kikyou tried to comfort Sesshoumaru.

"I shouldn't bring him to the park. He asked me before whether it was safe to go to the park. But, I ignored him. If only I pay more attention to him…," Sesshoumaru's voice trailed off.

"You cannot predict what will happen in the future. Blaming yourself will not help him at all. Plus, your mother really worries about you. You should focus on getting yourself healthy. I don't think your mother will be pleased to have both of his sons sick."

Sesshoumaru could not deny that what Kikyou said was true. However, it still did not help him to get rid of his guilty feeling. Kikyou frowned. She wanted to give more advices to Sesshoumaru.

Suddenly, she felt an evil aura outside the window for a brief second. Her trainings as a miko allowed her to trace evil aura. She did not quite sure whose aura it was but there was danger lingering on it. She quickly rushed to the window to see who gave out such dangerous evil aura. Sesshoumaru was shocked with Kikyou's action. Kikyou tried to trace the aura but there was no luck. It appeared and disappeared in the blink of eyes.

Kikyou wondered whether she was imaging thing. She may be too tired and exhausted. After all, she used a lot of her power in her fight with Tsubaki. Tsubaki surely was not an easy opponent. Her power has increased suddenly. Kikyou did not know how Tsubaki increased her power but she knew that Tsubaki was on of the Soul Stealer member. She needed to stop them at all cost. Kikyou sighed.

"What has happened?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Nothing. There is no need to worry," Kikyou answered.

She did not want to worry Sesshoumaru any more. He already has his little brother to worry. He did not need to worry about a false alarm. She looked at Inuyasha. he was at the same age as her little sister, Kagome. She hoped he will get recover as soon as possible. May be she should visit them and help Izayoi until her sons recovered. She did not think Izayoi can handle everything alone especially when her husband was on business trip. May be she can bring Kagome along too to play with Inuyasha. Kikyou smiled at this thought.

Not far from the room's window and hidden by the trees, there was an insect. A bee with a spider mark. It was watching and spying Kikyou, Sesshoumaru, Izayoi and Inuyasha.

p.s. Thank you for all of your review and comment. I will try to reduce errors in my writing. Constructive review and comment are always welcomed.


	4. Chapter 4: Brotherly Conversation

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 4: Brotherly Conversation

Sesshoumaru sighed and look at Inuyasha's face. It has been three days since the incident with Tsubaki. Inuyasha still did not show any sign to wake up. However, he started to regain his usual youkai form slowly. It started with his hair on the first day. It turned colour slowly from black to grey and then, into silver. His claws and fangs also started to grow slowly. At first, nobody noticed it but it soon became apparent. The only thing that did not change was his human ears. They still did not turn back into the usual triangular puppy ears. However, it did not last long. On the third day, the human ears disappeared and were replaced by the triangular puppy ears. His wounds too seemed to heal.

At first, Izayoi and Sesshoumaru were panicked with those changes. They did not sure whether it was a good sign or bad sign. However, the doctor assured them that there was nothing to worry about. The fact that Inuyasha slowly started to transform from human to youkai indicated that he was recovering. His youkai power was starting to return back. He probably will regain his consciousness at any time soon. This gave them a bit of relief.

Sesshoumaru's wounds were almost healed in the past three days. It was all thanked to the treatment gave by the doctor and probably his youkai's ability to heal fast. Usually, if it was some normal humans, they will need at least a month to recover from such serious injury. However, it was different for youkai. They can recover from wound that required one month to heal in three days. The doctor told him that he can leave the hospital at any time soon. However, he did not want to leave the hospital alone. He wanted to leave together with Inuyasha.

He sighed again and this time, he turned his attention to his stepmother, Izayoi. Izayoi was peeling an apple for Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru knew she was very tired because of them. She has been traveling back and forward between their home and hospital to look after both of them. She did not differentiate them. Every time she came to hospital, she will bring something like Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's favourite food and some fresh new clothes for them. She even bring some magazines so Sesshoumaru won't be too bored in the hospital. However, he did not have any mood to read the magazines.

What he wanted the most was to see Inuyasha to open his eyes again. In the past three days, he kept having a nightmare when ever he fall asleep. In his nightmare, he saw Inuyasha was shot by the arrow. Inuyasha bled so badly that it seemed there was no end to the bleeding. And every time, the nightmare will always end with Inuyasha died in his arm. It gave him cold sweats every time he woke up from the nightmare.

However, Sesshoumaru did not have the heart to tell it to Izayoi. She knew Izayoi too was worried about Inuyasha. Probably more than himself. After all, Inuyasha was his son. Sesshoumaru's mind drifted to his father. What should he tell to his father? His father's anger will definitely explode if he knew this. Nobody can save him from his wrath. Even his own stepmother.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. It was Kikyou. Kikyou has been visiting them in the past three days. She usually brought fruits and flowers as a gift. It was a good thing that Kikyou was there. She helped Izayoi a lot in looking after the two brothers. In this way, Izayoi can rest a bit and go home. Izayoi was very grateful with Kikyou. Without her help, who knew how Izayoi can cope with the stress.

Kikyou smiled warmly at Izayoi and handed her over a basket of fruits. Inside the basket, there were bananas, apples and oranges.

"You know you don't have to visit us everyday," Izayoi said.

"No, I insist. I want to help you out," Kikyou answered partly truthful.

It was not a lie. Kikyou really wanted to help them. But, there was another reason why she wanted to get close with them. She kept having a feeling. A feeling as if something was watching and spying them. Several times she sensed a dangerous evil aura. It appeared and disappeared immediately before she can track down the source. It happened whenever she was near with Izayoi's children. She knew the aura cannot be from Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. The aura was too strong to be their aura.

Kikyou did not know how to describe the aura properly. There was something more sinister and darker in the aura. Her instinct as a miko told her that this was a bad thing and a miko's instinct should not be taken lightly. It has helped Kikyou in her battle with evil youkai and fallen human. Fallen human was human who dwelt in forbidden arts such as curse. They chose to follow the path of darkness and abandoned their humanity. Tsubaki was one of them.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru, Izayoi and Kikyou heard a moan coming from Inuyasha's bed. For a moment, they only stared at Inuyasha. They were not quiet sure whether they were imaging thing or not. Then, they saw Inuyasha's hand moved slightly. At this sight, they quickly rushed to Inuyasha's bed. Sesshoumaru held Inuyasha's hand. It moved again and this time, it was followed by another moan. Slowly, Inuyasha's eyes opened.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" Sesshoumaru asked gently. He did not want his brother to get startled.

Inuyasha looked around himself and found that he was in unfamiliar room. He was sure that this room was not his room. He found his mother, Sesshoumaru and an unknown lady were looking at him with worry eyes. He did not know what has happened to him. He wanted to move and ask them questions. But, his body ached badly. He tried to remember as hard as he can to remember what has happened but he can't.

"Mom…. Sesshy….. What has happened? Where am I?" Inuyasha asked in a weak voice.

"It's okay. You are fine. You're in hospital right now. Someone shot an arrow to you. This young lady save both of you," Izayoi explained gently.

Suddenly, a flash of memory entered into Inuyasha's mind. He remembered it now. A woman attacked them and tried to kill Sesshoumaru. Everything happened so fast.

"Sesshy…. Where is Sesshy?" Inuyasha asked again in a concerned tone.

"I 'm here," Sesshoumaru slightly pressed Inuyasha's hand to indicate that he was there.

It was obvious that Sesshoumaru has something to say and were reluctant to do it in front of people. So, Izayoi gave a meaningful look to Kikyou. Kikyou understood it immediately.

"I'm going to fetch the doctor with Kikyou. We need someone to examine Inuyasha's condition. Will it be okay to leave both of you alone?" Izayoi asked.

"Yeah. It's okay," Sesshoumaru said.

After Izayoi and Kikyou leave the room, there was intense silence in the room. Sesshoumaru did not know what to say to Inuyasha. Sure, he has a lot of things to say to Inuyasha. But, he did not know where to start.

"Sesshy…." Inuyasha finally broke the silence in the room.

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"That's good to hear…." Inuyasha's voice trailed off.

For a moment, the room became silent again. Sesshoumaru gathered all his courage to ask a question that kept bothering him. He wanted to hear the answer directly from Inuyasha.

"Why did you take the hit for me, Inuyasha?"

"I don't want you to die…."

"Why?" Sesshoumaru asked in monotonous tone.

"Because you are my brother…"

"Even though I often bully you?"

"Yeah.."

This was not something that Sesshoumaru expected from Inuyasha. He was very surprised. He thought Inuyasha would be mad at him considering the fact that he was the one who caused Inuyasha to get injured in the first place. Not to mention all the bullying that he has done to him.

"Inuyasha…."

"Yeah…"

"I'm….. I'm….. I'm sorry…." It took all Sesshoumaru's strength and courage to say it.

This time, it was Inuyasha turned to be surprised. This was the first time that his brother actually said something nice to him. Could it be the pain he felt on his body has caused him to have hallucination? He pinched his cheek to make sure he was not dreaming. It was hurt which mean he was not dreaming.

"For what?" Inuyasha asked. He wanted to know why his brother apologized to him when there was nothing to apologize.

"For getting you hurt…. And bullying you…. And calling you by nasty thing….. And more….." Sesshoumaru's voice trailed off. He could not continue it.

Inuyasha blinked and said, "It's okay. I forgive you. It's not your fault. I'm the one who choose to jump out there recklessly."

Sesshoumaru frowned. He did not so sure about it. Inuyasha noticed it and suggested, "Look, don't feel guilty about it. Mom surely would tell you the same thing. But, if you still feel guilty about it, why don't you do something to make up for what you have done to me?"

"What is it?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Play with me after we get out from the hospital," Inuyasha answered eagerly.

Sesshoumar blinked and said, "Can't you thing of anything other than playing. Your brain will freeze and shut down if all you do is playing."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Both of them stared intensely at each other. None of them wanted to give up. Then, after a while, they both chuckled. It started with a small one and then turned into a merry laugh.

The two brothers did not aware that they were watched by two people outside the room. They were Izayoi and Kikyou. The two women just smiled at each other. Probably, there was a good thing for this terrible accident to happen. It bring Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru closer together. Izayoi never saw them like this. Usually, there was tension between them. Sesshoumaru would try as best as he can to avoid and ignore Inuyasha.

"I think it's okay for us to enter the room," Izayoi said to Kikyou.

"I agree," said Kikyou.

Izayoi knocked the door first to alert the two brothers. She smiled at them and said, "I ask the doctor when you guys can go home. They say they're going to keep you here for one more night to see if you guys are okay. If everything is okay, you can go home tomorrow."

"Yeeeeaaaah," Inuyasha screamed delightful.

Sesshoumaru just nodded. In his heart, he too felt the same as Inuyasha. he has had enough with the hospital. He wanted to go home especially after all these things. For some reasons, it felt as if it has been years since he went home. Kikyou just smiled at the sight of the family.

Suddenly, she felt it again. That evil aura again. She instantly grabbed her bow and shot an arrow to the direction where the aura came. It hit a target. An insect. A bee with spider mark to be precise. Kikyou stared in shock. "That was Naraku's insect. The leader of Soul Stealer. Why it is here?"

"Is everything okay?" Izayoi asked. She did not like the serious look of Kikyou. It was as if Kikyou just sensed something terrible. She could tell because she used to be a miko too.

"Eerrr…..Nothing. There is nothing actually," Kikyou answered. However, it was clear that she was bothered with what has happened. "So, the aura that I kept sensed in the last few days was Naraku. Naraku must be up to something. Why he sends his insect to watch and spy the family? I better watch over them just in case."

Deep in the forest, there was a large castle. Inside it, there was a man. It was Naraku. He clearly pissed off with what Kikyou has done. "Damn, that miko. Destroying my insect," he cursed. He later regained his composure. "It's okay. My plan can still be carried out. It will be too late for her to stop me when she realizes it." He smiled evilly.

p.s. Thank you for your review and comment. Please tell me what you think about the chapter. I appreciate and welcome any constructive review and comment.


	5. Chapter 5: A Fighting Lesson

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I also do not own anything that I use as reference in this fancfiction.

Chapter 5: A Fighting Lesson

"Hurry up, Inuyasha! You don't want me to leave you!" Sesshoumaru yelled at the doorway.

"Wait for me!" Inuyasha replied. He quickly grabbed his bag and hurriedly put on his shoes.

Izayoi smiled at the sight of the two brothers and said, "Don't forget your lunch." She handed over their lunch to them. With that, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru set off to their school. Sengoku Academy was near to their house. As such, they walked to the school everyday.

Inuyasha was very happy today. This was the first time he walked together with his brother to their school. Normally, Sesshoumaru would leave him behind. He did not even let Inuyasha to try to catch him up. This happened many times. So, yeah, Inuyasha was very happy and glad. However, his happiness was halted when he thought that they have to go to separate way when they reached the school. They may go to the same school but they studied in different section of the academy. Sesshoumaru was in middle school section while he was in elementary section.

Inuyasha sighed heavily when they reached the school gate. It was not because they were late. It was because of something else. He liked to go to school. He got to learn many kinds of things like how to read, how to count and many more. The teachers were also very nice. In fact, school was fun. It just there were these mean kids in his class. They often ruined his day at school. They made fun of his ears. Sometimes, they pulled and hurt his ears. He really did not like it. But, he did not know what to do. He did not want to tell to his parents. It will make him looked weak. Sesshoumaru often teased him on how weak he was.

Sesshoumaru noticed Inuyasha's hesistation and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Inuyasha's voice trailed off.

"Scared to go to school?" Sesshoumaru made a speculation.

"Of course not. Why would I be scared to go to school? It just….." It was clear that Inuyasha was reluctant to tell what has bothered him to Sesshoumaru. "If I tell him, he'll definitely laugh at me," Inuyasha thought.

Sesshoumaru sighed and thought, "Inuyasha was probably still scared with what has happened in the past few days. He should be. I mean he almost dies."

Sesshoumaru searched something in his pockets and bring out a pair of small acorns. Each one of them has three buttons on its top, the blue one, the red one and the yellow one. He gave one of the acorns to Inuyasha and kept another one for himself.

"What is this?"Inuyasha asked with a confused look.

"Some stuffs that I bought. If you put string on it, you can make a necklace or bracelet with it," Sesshoumaru explained.

"Okay. So, what it does?" Inuyasha asked curiously.

"Press the blue button on top of it," Sesshoumaru instructed.

Inuyasha did just as Sesshoumaru told him to do. Suddenly, the acorn kept by Sesshoumaru glowed and started to create sound. Inuyasha was surprised.

"What's just happened?" he asked.

"When you push the blue button, it alerts the other people who have the other pair of your acorn," Sesshoumaru explained. "The red one on the acorn will show you the way to where that people are."

"What about the yellow one?

"Oh, it's just to disable or enable the acorn's sound." Sesshoumaru paused for a second and continued, "I want you to keep one of the acorns."

"You mean it?" Inuyasha asked for assurance.

"Yeah. You can keep it. This way, if any one of us has problem, we can know immediately," Sesshoumaru assured him.

"Thank you," Inuyasha beamed. He felt a bit calmer now to go to school.

The school started as usual. Inuyasha seated quietly at the back of his class. He tried to pay attention to what his teacher taught in front of the class while ignoring the annoying whispers about his ears. Inuyasha really did not know why they hated his ears so much.

Recess time soon came. Inuyasha was glad. His classmates often used this time to play together. One of the popular games that they played was the superheroes game. It was a game where they pretended that they were a group of superheroes. Everyone in the group will create their own superheroes pose. It was fun to watch them. Sometimes, the created pose looked funny and stupid. Inuyasha always watched from the side. He did try to play with them but they always made him to become the bad guy in the game. As usual, the reason was his ear. As such, he just watched them whenever the played.

Not far from Inuyasha, there was a group of four children. Inuyasha and them were in the same class. They too were playing the superheroes game. Each one of them showed their pose and called out their trademark call just like in power rangers' series.

"Kagome, miko in training."

"Miroku, monk in training."

"Kouga, the wolf youkai."

"Sango, exterminator in training."

"We are…." All of them said loudly at the same time and gave their ultimate pose, "the city's superheroes!"

Inuyasha giggled at this sight. It was so funny. The group seemed to notice what he did. Kouga was very irritated. He did not like people to laugh at him.

"What are you laughing at?" Kouga shouted and went to Inuyasha.

He wanted to teach Inuyasha a lesson. Inuyasha was shocked. He did not know what to do. He didn't mean to hurt their feeling. He just wanted to watch them. Luckily, Kagome stepped in. Sango and Miroku too tried to stop Kouga. Their teacher and parents will not like it if they got involved in a fight at school.

"Wait, Kouga. I'm sure he did not mean it," Kagome tried to calm Kouga. "If not, I will…."

"Tell your sister, Kikyou!" Kouga snapped.

"No, I will tell the teacher," Kagome answered angrily. She then turned into Inuyasha and said, "You're Inuyasha, right?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"Do you want to play with us? You can be one of the superheroes too?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha was surprised. Someone actually asked him to play the game and let him to be the superhero too. This never happened before. Before Inuyasha could reply, Kouga intervened.

"No, he cannot play," Kouga said loudly.

"Why not? I'm sure he wants to play too," Kagome said. She knew it because she always saw Inuyasha looked at them with eager eyes whenever they played the game.

"Because…." Kouga pulled Inuyasha's ears as hard as he can to show them to Kagome, "….he has some weird ears."

"Ouch!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Kouga, let go of his ear," Kagome screamed angrily.

Kouga was startled at Kagome's scream. Kagome can be very scary when she was angry. He quickly let go Inuyasha's ears. Inuyasha took this opportunity to run away from there.

"Wait. Please don't go," Kagome tried to stop Inuyasha. But, Inuyasha was alreadu out of Kagome's sight. She turned to Kouga and said angrily, "Why did you do that for?..."

Kagome wanted to keep scolding Kouga. However, the recess period has ended. They needed to enter their class before their teacher.

"I should apologize to him. I hope his ears are okay," Kagome thought.

However, Kagome could not find any opportunity to apologize to Inuyasha. It become harder since Inuyasha seemed to try to avoid her at all cost. Probably because of the previous painful experience. This happened until the school ended. Kagome tried to searched him after the school ended but no luck. It was as if he was hiding from her. With disappointment, she went home.

Inuyasha looked around him before he came out from his hiding. That girl was surely persistent. He has a hard time to avoid her. When he was sure the girl was gone, he let out a relief sigh. However, it was too early. A group of boys suddenly came out of nowhere and surrounded him. They taunted him and pulled his ears until his ear bled. He desperately tried to get away from them with all his effort. But, it was no use. The circle was too strong for him to break.

He was starting to cry when someone shouted in angry, "What are you doing?"

It was Sesshoumaru. He was deadly furious. The boys started to run away when they saw he was coming toward them. Inuyasha just sobbed and looked at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru bent down and noticed that Inuyasha's ears were bleeding.

"Did this always happen?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Inuyasha just nodded.

"Why you didn't fight them back?"

"Be..be….because they are too many and too big for me to fight," Inuyasha answered in his sob.

Sesshoumaru frowned. It was a good thing that he gave Inuyasha the acorn. It helped him to track Inuyasha when he did not found Inuyasha at the school gate as they promised.

"Come on. Stop crying. Let's go home."

Inuyasha used all its effort to stop crying and said sadly, "They will bully me again tomorrow."

"Not anymore. From now on, you will not let them bully you."

"How?" Inuyasha blinked.

"I'll teach you how to use you claws and fangs to fight."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I cannot let anyone knows that I have a weak brother."

"Hey! I'm not weak."

"Yeah, right," Sesshoumaru answered in a flat tone.

"When do we start?"

"This evening at our house's backyard."

Later, as promised, Sesshoumaru began to train and teach Inuyasha how to fight properly. Of course, he made Inuyasha swore that he will never told their parents about this or used his skills for wrong reasons. Sesshoumaru knew his parents would be mad since Inuyasha was too young to take fighting lesson.

"Now, always remember two things," Sesshoumaru started his lesson, "First, never show your fear to your opponent. Your opponent my use it against you."

"But, I never have any fear," Inuyasha protested.

"Yeah, right. That's great for a guy who get bully everyday," Sesshoumaru replied sarcastically.

Inuyasha wanted to argue but Sesshoumaru continued with his lesson. "Second, never underestimate your opponent. You can't let their appearance fool you."

It was a very long, tiring lesson. Sesshoumaru gave a very long lecture. He made sure it was drilled into Inuyasha's head. Since this was Inuyasha's first lesson, Sesshoumaru taught the basic things only. However, it was sufficient for Inuyasha to fight back if he got bully again. By the end of the lesson, Inuyasha's body was covered with bruises and cut.

Meanwhile, in Naraku's castle, Naraku was watching the two brothers with his mirror. He then focused to the image of Inuyasha.

"Bankotsu," Naraku called.

A figure came out from the shadow and said, "Do you call for me?"

"Yes. I want to give you a task"

"What is it?"

"I want you to investigate this child," Naraku pointed at Inuyasha's image in his mirror. "I want to know everything about him. His family, his friends, his school and anything related to him. Don't leave anything behind and try to do it without being noticed by anyone especially by that miko. It seems she watches over that family closely."

"I understand." With that, Bankotsu disappeared.

"Soon…." Naraku said with a smile.

Outside the room, there was a woman who watched him smiled. She was a bird youkai. She has a pair of huge wings behind her back. Her name was Princess Ebi. She watched with irritate as Naraku returned to study the little boy again.


	6. Chapter 6: Princess Ebi

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 6: Princess Ebi

Princess Ebi spied Naraku silently from outside the room. She was irritated with the fact that the little boy attracted more Naraku's attention than herself. She herself did not know who the little boy was and why Naraku seemed to be interested with him. Naraku probably wanted to use him in one of his schemes. Even so, she did not like it. She was supposed the only person who Naraku should love, care and pay attention to. She did not like to have a competitor even if he was a harmless, vulnerable little boy.

Yes, that's right. Princess Ebi was madly in love with Naraku. For this very reason too, she has joined the Soul Stealer led by Naraku. She wanted to show Naraku what she was capable to do. She wanted Naraku to know how usefull she was and to fall in love with her. For that sake, she will do anything; including destroying any potential threats and that boy seemed to be a threat to her.

"Foolish Naraku…" Princess Ebi thought, biting her lips, "Why are you so obsessed with that boy when I, Princess Ebi, am here? What's so interesting with that boy?"

Princess Ebi was so lost in her thought that she did not realize that there was someone behind her.

"What are you doing here? Stalking Naraku again?" A figure asked.

Princess Ebi was startled and tensed up. She immediately gripped her scepter tightly and got ready in defense stance. On her scepter, there was a large gem with spider mark. She was about to attack when she realized it was just Tsubaki.

Tsubaki seemed to have recovered from the wounds inflicted by Kikyou. She wore a necklace with a gem. Like Princess Ebi's scepter, the gem has spider mark. Spider mark was Soul Stealer's symbol. Every member has a gem with spider mark as a proof of their membership. Naraku gave the gem to each one of them on the first day they joined the organization. It helped to increase their power.

"None of your business. What do you want?" Princess Ebi said in annoyed tone.

She did not like Tsubaki. She and Tsubaki seemed cannot get along with each other. They often disagreed with many things which cause them to get into a fight. Of course, they did not dare to do it in front of Naraku. Naraku was not someone that you should mess with. So, in the presence of Naraku, they just only exchanged dagger glare.

"Nothing. Just to see what kind of stupid thing that you're doing," Tsubaki said in amusement.

This triggered Princess Ebi's anger. "How dare she insult me like that? Who she thing she is? I'm a royalty. Not some common, dirty people like her!" she thought furiously. Suddenly, an idea struck in her head. She knew how to get back at Tsubaki?"

"Well, at least, I'm not idiot enough to be defeated so easily and has to crawl back shamelessly like some other people," she smirked.

Tsubaki jolted at the statement. She was furious to be reminded at her defeat to Kikyou. She did not need some ugly bird in human shape to remind her that. Now, she really wanted to make Princess Ebi suffered.

"Well, at least, I'm not that fool to wait unrequited love like some other stupid people," Tsubaki said sarcastically.

Princess Ebi twitched. She did not expect Tsubaki to bring out that subject. It made her greatly furious since what Tsubaki said was true. Princess Ebi has given many clear hints to Naraku that she loved and wanted him. However, he never showed a slightest hint that he loved her. Instead, he clearly gave her a dark, cold, icy glare, indicating his disgust toward her. However, she will not give up. She will make him fall in love with her no matter what.

Tsubaki smiled triumphantly when she saw Princess Ebi's furious face. She knew that subject on Naraku and her unrequited love were the best things to make her furious. She giggled softly when Princess Ebi could not utter a single word to defend herself.

"Well, the good thing is I'm not some UGLY, OLD HAG like you," Princess Ebi said, emphasizing the word ugly, old hag.

Now, it was Tsubaki's turn to get mad. Nobody can get away just like that after insulting her like that. Prncess Ebi knew Tsubaki did not like to be called like that. It was true when Tsubaki's face turned into red because of her anger.

"I am not some UGLY, OLD HAG. I am a STRONG, BEAUTIFUL MIKO!" Tsubaki's voice rose.

"Oooohhhh… That's not what you show in your last battle with Kikyou," Princess Ebi smirked.

"Now, you've done it! I'm going to rip apart your stupid wing," Tsubaki yelled angrily.

"Try it if you can, old hag," Princess Ebi challenged.

Both of them started to get ready in their offensive stance. They have totally forgotten that they were outside Naraku's room. They truly did not consider the chance that Naraku would not please with the sound and noise that they made. Their mind was too occupied on how to beat the opponent in front of them.

"I'm going to make her suffer," both of them thought at the same time and started to attack.

But, before they can strike off each other, a stern voice stopped them, "Stop this foolish fight."

It was Naraku.

It seemed that Tsubaki and Princess Ebi's shouting has disturbed him. He did not like to be disturbed, especially by ridiculous thing when he concentrated on something. Tsubaki and Princess Ebi immediately bowed respectfully to Naraku. They knew better not to make him angry. One wrong step and Naraku will behead them on the spot.

"If you have a lot of energy, why don't you use it to collect more souls for our plan? I don't need stupid people to do something stupid when I am busy with something," Naraku said in a flat tone.

Both of them shivered in fear and said obediently, "Yes, Naraku-sama".

Naraku turned around and went to his room. He wanted to continue his observation on that little child. However, as his hand was on the door knob, Princess Ebi stopped him by asking a question.

"Pardon me, Naraku-sama. May I ask you a question?" Princess Ebi asked with hesitation.

"What is it?" Naraku eyed her.

"Why did you send Bankotsu to investigate a child instead of sending him to collect more souls?" she asked.

Tsubaki wondered the same thing too. She knew Naraku has spent a lot of his time in the past few days to spy a child. The same child that took the hit of her arrow for his elder brother. In her opinion, that child was just another useless, weak brat. She could just kill her in a blink of eyes. However, she admitted that she was bothered with the fact that her purification arrow did not manage to purify that child.

"Could it be it is because that child manages to survive my purification arrow?" Tsubaki speculated in her heart.

Tsubaki wanted to ask Naraku directly to confirm her suspicion. However, she was too scared to ask the question. Naraku probably would not give her a straight answer. He was not a type of person who would tell loudly what was in his mind to another people. Just like their plan. He just told them to collect human and youkai soul as much as possible to create a jewel called Shikon Jewel. It was said the jewel has a great power that allowed anyone who has it to rule the world or grant their deepest desire.

"Why do you want to know?" Naraku asked.

"I just want to know. You never send Bankotsu to any mission unless it is important. So, I was wondering if such weak child has any significant in our plan," Princess Ebi answered.

"You might be right," Naraku said amusedly.

"Pardon me." Princess Ebi asked again. She and Tsubaki were shocked with Naraku's declaration. She did not sure whether what she heard was true.

"That child will play an important role in our plan," Naraku added.

"How?" This time, it was Tsubaki who asked.

"You will know when the right time comes," he answered with flowery language. "In the meantime, go and collect more souls. It seemed there will be a lot of people gathering at Spring Lake this weekend. Since Tsubaki hurt in previous fight, you should go, Princess Ebi."

Tsubaki hissed at Naraku's comment. She wanted to argue back but she did not have the courage to go against him.

Princess Ebi smiled delightfully at Naraku's order and said, "With pleasure."

Meanwhile, at Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's home, Izayoi was shocked to see both of her sons were covered with bruise and dirt. She hoped they were not attacked by some random people again. Furthermore, they just came out from the hospital.

"What's happened? Why you have so much bruise?" she asked anxiously.

"Nothing. Sesshy and I just play around," Inuyasha answered.

"Is that so?" Izayoi sighed with relief. "Go and take a bath. Dinner will be ready at any minute."

Later, they have their dinner. Izayoi's cooking was delicious. It was undeniable. The proof was Sesshoumaru kept asking Izayoi for another bowl of rice. It was a peaceful moment.

"Have both of you get ready for this weekend?" Izayoi asked.

"I've packed all the things that I want to bring," Sesshoumaru answered.

"Me too," Inuyasha raised his hand.

This weekend, their school will hold an activity. It was a joint event between middle school division and elementary division. It was part of activity to let students in different divisions to get along with one another. This means Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru will be together in this activity.

"So, what is the activity that you do this time?" Izayoi asked.

"Just a picnic," Sesshoumaru answered quietly.

"Not just some picnic. We're going to Spring Lake," Inuyasha added eagerly.

"There's no need to be so excited. It's just a picnic," Sesshoumaru pointed it out.

"Sesshy, you're a fun spoiler," Inuyasha exclaimed and turned to Izayoi, "Mom, can you made a huge, delicious lunch box for me when I go for picnic."

"Such a greedy brat," Sesshoumaru said in monotonous tone.

"Shut up. I'm a growing boy."

"Yeah, right."

They spend the rest of their dinner with their silly argument, unaware that their picnic may not be as fun as they expected.


	7. Chapter 7: Battle At The Lake

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything that I use as reference in this fannfiction.

Chapter 7: Battle At The Lake

"Kagome, miko in training."

"Miroku, monk in training."

"Kouga, the wolf youkai."

"Sango, exterminator in training."

"We are…." The four children said at the same time with their superhero pose, "the city's superheroes!" _(A/N: Please imagine when power rangers made their debut before fighting the monster.)_

"Oh, stop it you guys! Hurry up. You don't want to be left behind!" Kikyou reminded her little sister.

Kikyou giggled quietly when Kagome told her to wait and ran as fast as she can with her friend to Kikyou. Kikyou has to admit that it was funny to see the children did the pose. However, she did not have the heart to tell it face to face to the children. It will definitely make them sulking and she did not want that to happen. It was not easy to cheer them back.

Today, the school held a joint picnic activity between middle school division and elementary division. They will picnic at the Spring Lake. Spring Lake was one of the most popular locations to have a picnic. It has amazing green scenery and lake. There were two reasons why she was here today. First, as a representative of Higurashi family, Kikyou was invited to ensure that nothing bad happened at the picnic. Soul Stealer may show up to create havoc.

Lately, it seemed the Soul Stealer did not make any move. However, Kikyou knew better. They were plotting something and were waiting for the right opportunity to strike. She has a feeling that it somehow related to the two brothers that she has saved from Tsubaki. So, you could say her second reason to come to the picnic was to keep an eye on the two brothers, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.

She was still bothered with the insect that Naraku sent. At first, she thought Naraku sent the insect to spy her to find her weaknesses. However, a few incidences that happened lately changed her view. First, there was break in incidence in Sengoku academy. All records regarding middle school and elementary students have been stolen by someone. Other than that, nothing was taken away. Luckily, the school kept some back up documents. Therefore, there was no harm done to the school. No one knew who did. But, Kikyou's instinct told her that it was Naraku's work.

As stated before, Kikyou thought Naraku was targeting her and planned to use Kagome to get at her. However, several other breaks in incidences changed her mind. The incidence did not stop with the school. It happened to the hospital and other places too. Some of them did not have anything to do with her and her family. Again, in all cases, only records and documents were stolen. It took her awhile to realize the similarity between the cases. All the places that were broke in were related to the two brother's family somehow.

Kikyou did not believe that this was some mere coincidences. There were too many coincidences to be coincidence. Naraku must have something up in his sleeve that somehow related to the two boys. She just didn't know it and this frustrated her. She cannot just let Naraku do whatever he wanted. She sighed heavily and eyed the two brothers that were not far from her. There was nothing much that she can do now. The least thing that she can do now is to watch over them from Naraku.

"Wait up, Sis!" Kagome shouted, trying to catch up with her sister.

Suddenly, Kagome saw a familiar figure. It has that triangular puppy ears. He immediately recognized the figure.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out the boy loudly.

Inuyasha was startled to hear someone called his name so loudly. He turned around and saw the girl who kept chasing after him in the past few days. So far, he has successfully in evading her. If he remembered correctly her name was Kagome.

"Why is she here?" Inuyasha thought a minute and suddenly realized a fact, "Of course she should be here. We're in the same class."

Inuyasha become panicked when he saw Kagome ran toward him. He didn't know what to do. He searched for his brother, hoping that his brother could tell him what to do or at least told the girl to go away. He found Sesshoumaru was talking with his friends but he was too far from Inuyasha. With Kagome's running speed right now, she will reach Inuyasha before Inuyasha reached Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha did not have any choice and followed what his instinct told. He ran away.

"Hey, why are you running for?" Kagome shouted at the top of her voice.

Inuyasha wondered the same thing but he could not come out with the answer. He kept running. His youkai blood allowed him to run faster than average human. Soon, Kagome found it was hard to catch up with Inuyasha. She did not want to give up yet. She needed to make him understood that she was sorry with what happened to his ears and meant no harm. She will chase him no matter what obstructed her.

Inuyasha saw her determination in her eyes. He knew he can't just kept running from her. So, he decided to hide on a tree. Climbing a tree was not so hard for him. His claws helped him out a lot. Plus, Sesshoumaru taught him how to do so. Inuyasha hid silently on top of a tree, watching silently as Kagome passed the tree on which he hid, shouting his name. He sighed with relief. However, he did not come down immediately from the tree since Kagome was still searching for him.

Scratching his head, Inuyasha thought angrily himself, "That girl is crazy. How long she intends to chase after me? Sesshy will kill me if he found out I ran away because of a girl after all those fighting lessons. Damn it. I should be braver like he told me to do."

Inuyasha waited for awhile to make sure Kagome was gone. However, she did not. She kept searching for him. The situation kept going on for more than one hour. Soon, he began to feel tired and sleepy. He shut his eyes, thinking it will be a short nap.

Kagome soon gave up when she realized it was almost impossible to find Inuyasha. She was very disappointed with her defeat. However, she vowed that she would not let Inuyasha escaped her again. She will catch him sooner or later. Kagome slowly walked to her sister, Kikyou. As she come closer, she saw her sister was talking with a middle school boy. For some reason, that boy resembled with someone she knew. She just couldn't figure it out.

"This is my little sister, Kagome. Kagome, this is Sesshoumaru," Kikyou introduced Kagome to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru just nodded and asked, "Did you happen to know where my brother is? He's in the same class with you."

"What's his name?" Kagome asked.

"Inuyasha" Sesshoumaru answered shortly.

"Oh, he's…."

Suddenly, there was an explosion. It was so great that the ground was shaken. It woke up Inuyasha's nap too. When he opened his eyes, he saw a woman with a pair of wings behind her was attacking people under the tree he hid. Inuyasha was scared. He was so closed with that woman. Luckily, the woman was too preoccupied and did not notice him.

Kikyou quickly took out her bow and arrow and yelled at people around her, "Quickly, take cover!"

All the students and teachers were panicked. They did not what to do. Where should they take cover? Princess Ebi watched the panic people to run away. The sight was an entertainment to her. However, she did not plan to let anyone to escape from her. She quickly unleashed her feather attack to the scared students and teachers. Her attack was so quick and fast that Sesshoumaru as well as Kikyou did not have time to dodge the attack. The attack created a huge dust.

When the dust cleared, Kikyou tried to stand up and look around her. She noticed there was a feather stick to her body. It was not her alone. In fact, everyone has it. Well, except Inuyasha of course. She was puzzled with what happened. She did not feel anything from the attack. She did not feel any pain at all. Well, that until Princess Ebi snapped her fingers and sent electricity through her feather, paralyzing everyone.

Princess Ebi pulled out her scepter and said, "I should finish this right now. Everyone, give me your soul."

Her scepter started to glow in red colour. Kikyou tried to move but it was no use. She couldn't move her body an inch. Her body like everyone else was glowing with blue colour. She could feel her soul was slowly sucked out from her body. On top of the tree, Inuyasha watched everything in horror. He saw his brother and friend were weakening.

"Oh, no! If this keeps going on, they will loss their soul. What should I do? I can't fight this woman alone. She's too big for me!" Inuyasha thought in horror.

"Stop acting like a coward!"

Inuyasha suddenly remembered what Sesshoumaru told him in their fighting lesson, "Stop acting like a coward. If you keep up like this, even someone weaker than you can bully you. Now, stop crying. You should be braver."

That flashback gave Inuyasha a confidence, "That's right. I can't be a coward."

He carefully sneaked behind Princess Ebi, waiting for the right time to strike. It seemed Princess Ebi was too concentrated with her job that she did not realize Inuyasha at all. Inuyasha took a deep breath and braced himself. "There was no turning back," he thought.

He quickly jumped on Princess Ebi and yelled, "Leave my brother and friends alone!"

Princess Ebi clearly did not expect this to happen. She did not expect a seven years old brat would jump on her, biting and clawing her with his tiny, weak fangs and claws. The same thing could be said to everyone especially Sesshoumaru. He too did not expect this too happen.

"You moron. You should just hide or run away," Sesshoumaru thought angrily.

It took awhile for Princess Ebi to overcome her shock. She then caught Inuyasha at his back and slammed him on the ground, causing Inuyasha to loss his consciousness. The slam was so hard that it created a dent on the ground. Sesshoumaru watched in horror.

"INUYASHA!" Sesshoumaru yelled.

Princess Ebi looked at Inuyasha. Suddenly, she felt blood coming out from her cheek. She quickly grabbed her mirror to get a good look at herself. To her horror, there were scratches on her cheek. On her beautiful face. Now, this made her very angry. Her scepter glowed intensely as well as her body. Nobody has insulted her like this before and nobody can walk away just like that.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, BRAAAAAAT!" Princess Ebi yelled furiously, preparing to deliver her killing blow to unconscious Inuyasha.

"NOOOOOOO!" Sesshoumaru yelled, as he watched the similar incidence with Tsubaki to occur.

Suddenly, someone threw a dagger to Princess Ebi out of nowhere as she was about to attack Inuyasha. It only missed an inch from her head. Princess Ebi was furious. She looked at her attacker. She wanted to crush anyone who dares to defy her. Suddenly, her furious turned into a fear as she recognized the attacker.

It was Naraku.

p.s. Thank you for your review and comment. I'll try to be less confusing while building up the plot. As usual, review and comment are always welcome.


	8. Chapter 8: Naraku's Interference

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 8: Naraku's Interference.

Everyone including Princess Ebi, Kikyou and Sesshoumaru looked up at the sky. There was a man surrounded by insects, floating on the air. He emitted a great evil aura, enough to bring shiver down to everyone's spine. Seeing how frightened Princess Ebi was, it was easy to conclude that he was her leader. Sesshoumaru knew instantly that he was a formidable opponent, probably at the same level as his father.

Kikyou began to ponder desperately, "That's Naraku, the leader of Soul Stealer. What's he doing here? It's not like him to show up abruptly like this."

She was worried. She was worried and puzzled at the same time. First, she was worried at what Naraku intended to do with them. With her current condition where she can't move her body no matter how much she commanded it, it was almost next to impossible to fight against Naraku. She cursed her uselessness, unable to do anything at all especially at this desperate moment. Second, she was puzzled with Naraku's action. Why did Naraku attack his underlining? It can't that he was here to save them. She later become more confused when Naraku said something unexpectedly to Princess Ebi.

"That's enough for today. Let's retreat for now," Naraku ordered.

Princess Ebi was stunned. She did not believe what she had just heard. She tried to figure out what has just happened. A stupid, seven years old brat had jumped on her, clawing and biting her. She slammed that brat on the ground, preparing to give the finishing blow to end that brat's worthless life. Suddenly, Naraku showed up of nowhere, throwing a dagger to her. And now, he gave her a crappy order of retreating after he told her to attack this area.

Princess Ebi was furious. Retreating was never in her vocabulary. She was a royalty of bird youkai. She cannot just retreat like that. Not after she had been insulted greatly by a little brat. She knew Naraku has an interest on that brat but it did not matter to her. She did not care what Naraku thought. Her pride was more important than some lowly stupid brat who did not know his place.

"But, Naraku-sama, why should we retreat? I can take them down all by myself," Princess Ebi protested.

She was about to protest more when Naraku gave her a sharp, deadly glare as he landed on the ground.

"I do not like it when someone defies me," he warned her, grabbing her arm.

That was enough to silence Princess Ebi. She did not dare to fight back Naraku, knowing the consequences of defying him.

She nodded and bowed, trying to hide her anger as best as possible, "As you wish, Naraku-sama."

Naraku knew Princess Ebi was angry with his order. He needed to remind her of her status in the organization when they went back to the castle. Kikyou noticed that Princess Ebi was distracted with Naraku. Kikyou tried as hard as she can to reach her bow and arrow, praying in her heart that Naraku and Princess Ebi did not notice what she tried to do. However, luck was not on her side. Naraku noticed her.

"Do not attempt to do something foolish, miko," Naraku said, raising his hand as if he was ready to give order to his insect, "You don't want to make me angry. With one snap of my fingers, I can destroy all of you. So, you better behave yourself."

Kikyou knew it was not an empty threat. He meant it. Seriously. She stopped from trying to reach her arrow and bow. Naraku smiled. With that, he disappeared into thin air along with Princess Ebi and his insects. For a while, nobody moved. Slowly, the paralyze effect on everyone disappeared. Kikyou and Sesshoumaru tried to stand up. The first thing that Sesshomaru did was heading to Inuyasha. He wanted to make sure Inuyasha was okay. Kikyou, on the other hand, made sure the students and teachers were safe before heading to Inuyasha.

As she headed to Inuyasha, she thought, "Why Naraku stops that woman? It was a perfect opportunity to kill us. Hmmm….. by the look of that woman, she too did not expect Naraku's action. He showed up just before she was about to strike off Inuyasha. Could it be that Naraku did not want her to kill Inuyasha?"

This did not make sense to her. Why would Naraku want to save Inuyasha? What can he gain from saving Inuyasha? However, considering the broke in incidences and what has just happened, there was high probability that Naraku was targeting the little boy. She just had to found out why. She stopped her train of thought when she reached Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru was trying to wake Inuyasha up.

Kikyou examined Inuyasha's injuries. He was still unconscious. There was blood on his head. Probably from the impact of being slammed on the ground. However, the good thing was he was breathing. Kikyou placed her hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder and instructed him to carry Inuyasha. They needed to bring Inuyasha and people injured from the attack to hospital to get proper examination and treatment.

Meanwhile, at Naraku's castle…..

Naraku released his grip on Princess Ebi's arm when they reached the castle. Princess Ebi quickly distanced herself from Naraku. She glared at Naraku with anger. It was obvious that she was not pleased with Naraku's action. Naraku could see this.

"Why did you stop me?" Princess Ebi asked cautiously.

"Because you were going to kill that child," Naraku answered in as a matter of fact tone

"Why can't I?" Princess Ebi asked again impatiently.

"As I said, he plays important role in our plan. We need him to stay alive for now," Naraku explained.

"WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT IT? I WANT TO KILL THAT BRAT. HE RUINED MY PRIDE AND BEAUTIFUL FACE! I DON'T CARE A DAMN …" before Princess Ebi could finish her shout, she found that she was slammed on the floor by Naraku.

Blood was dripping from forehead. It seemed she had crossed her line and made Naraku angry. Before she could stand up properly, Naraku grabbed her throat, lifting her from the floor. Princess Ebi could barely breathe.

"The boy is untouchable! If I found out you harm him in any ways, I'll kill you!" Naraku yelled, releasing Princess Ebi.

Naraku stormed away to his room, leaving behind Princess Ebi who was panting for air. She did not believe what had just happened. Naraku just strangled her to near of death because of a little boy. She did not believe it. This must be some nightmare or she must have some hallucinations. However, the hand mark around her neck said otherwise. She felt horror, angry, sad and humiliated at the same time. She did not know what to do. Unknown to her, a figure hiding in shadow was watching her with amusement look. It was Tsubaki.

"Well…well…. What has just happened here? It seems someone has been strangled to near of death by her supposedly lover?" Tsubaki said sarcastically, making her presence known to Princess Ebi.

Princess Ebi glared at her and asked, "What do you want, old hag?"

"Well…..well…. don't be so edgy. I just want to take a good look at your pathetic look after being slammed to floor by your beloved Naraku. Oh, my…. You have scratch on your face. Not so pretty anymore, aren't you?" Tsubaki smirked.

Now, this made Princess Ebi angrier. Today, she had been humiliated by a little boy and has been slammed to floor by Naraku. She will not let her to be humiliated anymore by anyone especially the old hag who was standing in front of her. She needed to defend her pride and honour as a royalty. She needed to teach a lesson to Tsubaki. She let her anger controlled her which was not a wise decision. It had cloud her judgement.

In her anger, she rushed to Tsubaki, hoping to knock her down on the floor. Tsubaki knew what Princess Ebi intended to do. Rushing to her like that won't knock her down easily. She calmly avoided Princess Ebi's assault and tripped her off. This caused Princess Ebi to loss her balance and fall hard on the floor. Tsubaki laughed mockingly at Princess Ebi's fall.

"Such inelegant fall from a royalty. It seems that you need to learn how to fall elegantly so you wouldn't embarrass yourself again," Tsubaki said mockingly as she disappeared into the thin air.

Princess Ebi was very angry. She picked herself up from the floor and shouted, "Don't you dare to run away, old hag!"

She wanted to fight with Tsubaki. However, Tsubaki has already disappeared. There was only her laughter that echoed through the castle's corridor. Princess Ebi clenched her fists. Her emotion was mixed up anger and hate. Anger at how Tsubaki had made fun of her and hate at how the little boy gained Naraku's attention.

"Damn that Tsubaki. Damn that little boy. They're going to pay for my humiliation," Princess Ebi thought as she stormed to her room.

Princess Ebi really, really hated them. However, compare to Tsubaki, Princess Ebi hated the little boy more. How come some no name boy could get Naraku's interest? Naraku was hers alone. No one can take him from her.

"I'm going to kill and skin that little boy. It's fast but less painful. Then again, I want him to be in pain as much as possible. Perhaps burning him to death is not a bad idea. Oh, wait a minute. Maybe I should throw him into a cage full of wolves and watch him to be eaten by them. It should be fun to watch his terrified face," Princess Ebi schemed in her mind, considering the best way to make the little boy suffered.

Meanwhile, at Naraku's room….

Naraku sat on his chair, examining a pile of documents. On Naraku's table, there were many documents and records scattered. They were the ones that had been stolen in the recent broke in incidences. There were also many photographs. Most of them have Inuyasha in it. There were also the photographs of his family and friends.

"Bankotsu," Naraku called.

"Yes."

"Are these the only things that you manage to investigate?"

"Yes. Is there anything matter?"

"It's not enough. I want you to found out more about that child."

Bankotsu paused a bit and asked, "May I asked something?"

"What is it?"

"This child…. Is he the one who will help us to create Shikon Jewel?" Bankotsu asked cautiously.

Naraku smiled evilly and answered, "Yes, he is."

"I understand. I'll try to found out more about him," Bankotsu said as he was about to leave the room.

"Bankotsu," Naraku stopped him.

"Yes."

"Watch over that Princess Ebi. I think she's going to create a lot of problem to us. Handle her properly if you need to," Naraku gave Bankotsu a meaningful look.

"I understand," Bankotsu replied.

With that, Bankotsu set out for his mission.


	9. Chapter 9: Meeting Toutosai

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 9: Meeting Toutosai

Hurt.

That was the first thing Inuyasha felt when he regained his consciousness. At first, he felt pain on his head. Then, the pain started to spread over his body. He did not open his eyes immediately, trying to figure out where the pain came from. The last thing he remembered was being on a ground. There was a woman staring at him furiously. Then, everything went black. Inuyasha tried to move his hand. It was hard but he managed to move it a little. Suddenly, he heard a voice. He did not know it belonged to whom. It sounded concern.

"Inuyasha, are you okay? Can you hear us?"

Slowly, Inuyasha opened his eyes. There were two blurred figures, standing on the right and left sides of his bed. He couldn't figure them out at first. The room was too bright for him. It took awhile for Inuyasha's eyes to adjust to the surrounding. He soon was able to recognize the blurred figures. It was his brother and mother. They have a worried look on their face. Inuyasha wondered why they looked so worried.

Inuyasha tried to get up to question them. However, his body was hurt. He let out a moan in pain. Sesshoumaru and Izayoi noticed this and tried to help Inuyasha to sit on the bed. They tried to be as careful as possible. They didn't want Inuyasha to be in pain anymore or made his injury worse. The doctor said that thanked to Inuyasha's youkai blood other than the injury on his head, there was no serious injury in any part of his body. However, they did not want to take any risk.

Inuyasha could feel his head aching. He put his hand on his head, hoping that it would reduce the headache that he had. He felt there was a bandage on his head. For a moment, he did not speak anything, looking down confusingly. Sesshoumaru and Izayoi were worried with Inuyasha's reaction. Izayoi did not know what to do or how to response with his son's reaction. When she heard the news from the school, she nearly collapsed from the shock.

"Where am I? What's happened?" Inuyasha asked hazily.

Izayoi exchanged look with Sesshoumaru before answering the question, "You're in hospital. Sesshoumaru said you have been knocked out after being slammed on the ground."

It was true. It was true that Inuyasha had been slammed on the ground by one of Soul Stealer member. However, it was not the whole truth. Sesshoumaru did not tell Izayoi that the slam was so great that it created a dent on the ground. He did not have the heart to tell her. His stepmother was already really worried when she found out they were attacked again even though it was a different attacker this time. She will definitely freak out if she knew about this.

After seeing Inuyasha did not seem to give proper response to her answer, she turned to Sesshoumaru and said, "I'm going to call a doctor or nurse. Watch over Inuyasha for me, okay?"

There was a deadly silence for awhile in the hospital room after Izayoi leaved. Neither Inuyasha nor Sesshoumaru talked. It almost drove Sesshoumaru into crazy. Finally, unable to bear with the silence, Sesshoumaru asked Inuyasha a question that had been pondering in his mind.

"Inuyasha."

"Yes."

"Why did you foolishly jump on that crazy woman, clawing and biting her?" Sesshoumaru asked in indifferent tone.

"I am not foolish!" Inuyasha retorted back.

"Never mind. Just answer," Sesshoumaru said patiently.

"Well… she attacked you and my friends. I can't just let it happen just like that," Inuyasha answered hesitantly.

"But that didn't mean you should act recklessly. Honestly, I thought you want to commit a suicide when you jumped on her," Sesshoumaru argued. He needed to talk some sense into his little brother.

"But, you're the one who say I should be brave and not to become a coward," Inuyasha argued back.

Sesshoumaru blinked. He did not expect Inuyasha to say something like that. He then cursed himself silently, "Damn. It must be because of the fighting lessons that I gave to him. Mom and Dad will surely kill me if they found out this."

"But I also said that you should never underestimate your opponent, meaning you should not act recklessly. You should just run away and seek help from other people," Sesshoumaru sighed.

"But…. You could've been kill or that woman may steal your soul when I run away, searching for help that may come too late," Inuyasha said, still did not want to give up in the argument.

"Well….. you don't need to get worry. I'm strong," Sesshoumaru answered, crossing his arms.

"Yeah…. right. You can't even move an inch at all," Inuyasha pointed out.

"That's not true."

"It is."

"Is not."

"It is."

"Is not."

"It is."

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a doctor and Izayoi.

"Well…well… If you guys can have a fight that can be heard until outside like that, it safely to assume that you guys are alright. But, let's check first. Just to be safe," the doctor said with a warm smile.

Izayoi just giggled at the doctor's comment while the two boys kept silence, glaring at each other as if sending a it's –your- fault-we-got-laughed-by-this-doctor message. The doctor just smiled at them. It did not take a long time for him to examine Inuyasha. He took off Inuyasha's bandage on his head. It seemed the wound on Inuyasha's head had already been healed. Sometimes, it amazed the doctor how youkai could heal faster.

After finishing the examination, the doctor, "Well, there's nothing wrong with him. He's fully recovered. You can take him home now."

That really made Izayoi relieved. If possible, she did not want any of her sons to be hospitalized. She wanted them to stay healthy.

"Yey…. I can go home!" Inuyasha shouted happily.

"Oh…. Can't you be a little quiet?" Sesshoumaru mumbled.

Ignoring Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha turned to Izayoi and asked, "Can we go shopping and buy a lot of candies and chocolate?"

"Such unreasonable request," Sesshoumaru pointed out.

"You're so mean Sesshy."

Before both of them could continue their silly argument, Izayoi interrupted, "Let's go shopping. We need to do some shopping for our dinner after all."

Later, they found themselves around a supermarket. There were many people and stalls at that place. It was very crowded. Probably because the supermarket held another promotion sale or because of the stalls around it. Some stalls sold girly things like necklace and locket. Some provided fortune telling service. Sesshoumaru found himself stuck in this crowded place with his little brother while Izayoi went to do some shopping. Izayoi told him that he and Inuyasha can go and see the stalls if they wanted to.

Well, Sesshoumaru did not want to walk around the stalls. This place was too crowded for him. However, Inuyasha had a different mind. He wanted to see the stalls. With his cute, big, round golden eyes, he begged Sesshoumaru to take him to look around the stalls. He even promised that he would not ask Sesshoumaru to buy anything. This seemed to be a fair bargain for Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru observed the area while holding Inuyasha's hand. He did not want Inuyasha to get lost in this crowded place. It seemed every stall had many customers, well, except one.

It caught Sesshoumaru's eyes. It was a weapon stall. This stall seemed to catch Inuyasha's attention too. There were many weapons on the stall. Swords, shields, armor, you just named it. It displayed many amazing weapons. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru approached the stall slowly. As they came closer, they could recognize the owner of the stall. It was Toutosai.

Toutosai was one of their father's friends. He was the best weapon maker in the city. His works were of a high quality. Many people praised his works and wanted him to make weapons for them, including Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father. However, Toutosai was kind of a weird old man. He was very picky with his customers. If he thought his customers were not worthy of his weapons, he would not sell his weapons to them even though they were willing to pay a great price.

Not to mention, he also had a habit to show out of nowhere. One minute he was here and another minute he was gone. It was like a magic. It was hard to see him staying in one place for a long time. He always moved around. As a result, it was very hard to found him. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha too had not seen him for a long time. So, it was a surprised for them to meet him at this crowded place. Toutosai seemed to notice them as they came closer to his stall.

He stopped doing his work and greeted them, "Well….well….. if it isn't Inutaisho's sons? What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to do some shopping!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"It's been a long time since we met Toutosai-san," Sesshoumaru greeted politely.

Toutosai smiled. Inuyasha was very amazed with all sorts of weapons in the stalls. He had only seen them in TV or heard his father talking about them. He never actually saw them as closely as this. It gave Inuyasha an urge to touch and play with them. Sesshoumaru seemed to be able to foreseen this. He smacked Inuyasha's head before Inuyasha could reach out his hand to touch a nearby sword.

Rubbing his head, Inuyasha glared at his brother, "Why did you do that for?"

"Because you are going to do something stupid ….. again," Sesshoumaru answered monotonously.

"I'm not doing something stupid. I just want to touch the sword," Inuyasha argued.

"That is something stupid," Sesshoumaru said indifferently.

"Why can't I?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because…..," Sesshoumaru answered, picking up the sword that Inuyasha intended to touch, "weapon is not a toy. You can get hurt if you don't know how to use it properly."

Sesshoumaru knew this very well because his father taught him how to use a sword even though he was not as good as his father. He knew a sword can hurt its user if its user did not know how to use it. Suddenly, the sword glowed warmly. Sesshoumaru was shocked. He immediately dropped the sword on the ground, trying as hard as he can to conceal his shock. For a moment, nobody moved or spoke.

"Oh, oohhhh… What did you do, Sesshy?" Inuyasha asked with accusing eyes to Sesshoumaru.

"I didn't do anything." Sesshoumaru answered, avoiding Inuyasha's accusing eyes.

"You broke it! Mom surely will kill us now" Inuyasha added.

"I did not!" Sesshoumaru said with irritation, picking up the sword on the ground to inspect it.

There was no scratch on the sword. This made Sesshoumaru a bit of relieved. He did not know what to do if Toutosai asked him to pay some compensation. He did not have a lot of money know and he was sure that Toutosai's sword worth more than all money that he had now. Toutosai, on the other hand, was very happy. His eyes were full with happiness. It was as if what hah happened just now deserved a celebration.

"Finally….. Tenseiga has chosen its own master," Toutosai said cheerfully.

"What….." Sesshoumaru tried to figure out what Toutosai meant.

"Tenseiga….. the sword….. its name is Tenseiga and now , it has chosen you as his master," Toutosai explained impatiently.

Toutosai was very happy. This sword had given him a lot of headaches. Up until now, it had refused to acknowledge anyone as its master. And now, it has acknowledged Sesshoumaru as its master. Sesshoumaru blinked. He did not know what to do or think. Toutosai acted and spoke as if the sword has its own mind which he did not believe so. He means how on earth a lifeless sword could have it own mind. That was too ridiculous.

Toutosai seemed to notice what Sesshoumaru thought and said, "Do not underestimate this sword. Some powerful and unique swords have their own mind and this sword fall under that category. Since it reacts to you alone, I will give to you for free."

Sesshoumaru seemed to be a bit of confused, "Why would I want to keep this sword? It's not like I need it to cut anyone anyway."

"Ah….. this one is different than any other sword. It's the sword of healing. It won't cut anything except spirits, souls and anything made of soul. Besides, I had a feeling that you will need it in future," Toutosai said.

Sesshoumaru wanted to protest. He did not want the sword. It did not suit him. Besides, his stepmother did not really like anything that got to do with weapons and fighting. Sesshoumaru was sure that his stepmother would insist him to return the sword back to Toutosai, saying that it was too dangerous for him.

However, before he could do anything, Toutosai waived his hand to dismiss Sesshoumaru and said, "I have to go now. I leave Tenseiga in your care."

With that, he threw a smoke bomb at Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. That really surprised them. When the smoke cleared, they saw Toutosai had disappeared along with his stall without any trace. They just blinked for a moment. Not sure what to do. They exchanged what-should-we-do look at each other. Sesshoumaru looked at Tenseiga in his hand.

"Mom will definitely do not like this."

And Sesshoumaru's prediction was true.


	10. Chapter 10: The Birth Of Chibi Defender

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 10: The Birth Of Chibi Defender

It was very predictable. Izayoi clearly did not like the sword. She insisted that Sesshoumaru was too young to have a sword. As a result, she asked Sesshoumaru to return it to Toutosai. This did not impose any problem to Sesshoumaru. He thought the same thing too. He too did not want to have anything to do with the sword. The problem was he did not know where Toutosai had gone. It was not easy to found him unless he wanted to be found. Sesshoumaru pointed out this fact to his stepmother.

However, Izayoi insisted to give a try in searching Toutosai. So, before they went home, they tried to search Toutosai around the area. However, it was useless. They did not found him after searching it for an hour. It was almost impossible to find him in this crowded area. Besides, it was starting to get dark. Since it was too problematic to find Toutosai, Sesshoumaru made a suggestion to throw away the sword into a trash can. That really earned him a scold from his stepmother.

"Sesshoumaru, you can't do that," Izayoi scolded him.

"I'm sure he didn't mind at all. After all, he gave it to me for free. I'm sure the sword is not really that valuable like he said," Sesshoumaru argued back.

"Even so, it is rude to toss away a gift from people. Besides, Toutosai is your father's friend. It's better for you to return it politely," Izayoi tried to justify her argument.

"But, Mom…. Its late already. Besides, where am I going to find him anyway?"

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere. You can search him here with Inuyasha after school," Izayoi suggested.

Sesshoumaru shrugged and sighed. It will be one tough problem for him. If he knew it would turn out like this, he would not touch the sword in the first place. He sighed again and looked at the sword again. "Tenseiga, right? It looks like I'm going to keep you for awhile. Until I find Toutosai-san, of course."

The sword suddenly gave a small warm pulse as if it was listening to Sesshoumaru. This startled Sesshoumaru a bit. He tried to calm himself by telling himself that it was impossible for a sword to have its own mind or give any response. Toutosai must have messed up with his mind. Slowly, he walked to his home with Inuyasha and Izayoi. Izayoi bought many things. As a result, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had to help her to carry the bags which were pretty heavy.

"Tomorrow will be a hard day," Sesshoumaru thought.

However, he was not the only who thought like that. Inuyasha thought the same thing too. It was not because Inuyasha had to help Sesshoumaru. It was because he had to go to school. He still did not know what to do with the little girl.

"I'm sure Kagome still did not give up yet. She'll definitely chase after me."

Inuyasha's prediction was true. When he entered his classroom on the next morning, he could see Kagome was glancing at him. It was not her only. Almost all his classmates did the same thing as Kagome. Inuyasha gulped and started to get nervous. He did not know what had happened. Did he do something wrong or weird? He checked himself to see if there was anything wrong with him. However, he could not find anything. This made him even more nervous. He tried as hard as he can to hide his nervousness.

"Come on, Inuyasha. Don't be nervous or scared. Remember what Sesshy taught you," Inuyasha tried to calm himself down.

Inuyasha quietly went to his seat and sat down. As soon as he sat down, almost all his classmates came to gather around him. This made him started to get uneasy and panicked. He can't handle all of them alone if they bullied him even though Sesshoumaru had taught him how to fight. They were just too many for him. Inuyasha started to consider the option of running away. He started to look the nearest exit that he could find. However, to his surprise, his classmates didn't try to bully him. Instead, they looked at him eagerly and started talking and praising him.

"You're awesome yesterday!"

"Yeah….. I can't believe you jumped on her."

"Clawing and biting her too."

"How was your injury?"

"That woman is really evil. She actually slammed you on the ground."

"I thought for a moment that you're going to die."

Inuyasha didn't know what to do. So many questions and so many people talked at the same time. He didn't know how to response to them. However, he must admit that he was happy to hear his friends praising him. He felt he had been acknowledged by his classmates. This made him proud of himself. His friend never treated him like this. Some of them even asked him to play with them which he declined properly. He still preferred to be alone and watching other people playing than joining them.

Later, their teacher entered into the classroom. The children quickly scrambled to their seat. They did not want their teacher to scold them. The lesson ran smoothly. It was not difficult for Inuyasha to grasp what his teacher taught. However, during the lesson, he noticed that Kagome glanced at him several times. It was as if she wanted to talk to him about something. Then, the lesson ended and the recess period came. The children went outside the class to play. Kagome and her friends approached Inuyasha slowly.

"Don't run away," Kagome said as Inuyasha was about to leave.

"I'm not running away," Inuyasha replied.

"Well… you've been doing that several days ago," Kagome pointed out.

"That's because you chased after me like a crazy girl!" Inuyasha said loudly.

"I am not a crazy girl!" Kagome yelled angrily.

"You are."

"I am not."

"You are."

"I am not."

"You are."

"I am not."

"Guys…" Sango intervened, "chill out. Don't fight. Besides, we are not here to fight, right, Kagome?"

Sango gave a meaningful look to Kagome. Kagome seemed to remember the reason why she wanted to meet Inuyasha.

"Well….. we want to apologize to you for your ears. Kouga and the rest of us really mean it," Kagome apologized.

"Heyyyy….. why should I apologize to this dog boy?" Kouga argued.

"Because you pulled his ears. Remember?" Kagome reminded Kouga, pinching his arm.

"Okay….okay…. I'm sorry dog boy," Kouga gave in to Kagome.

"KOUGA!" Kagome yelled.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha," Kouga apologize again, trying to be as nice as possible.

"That's better," Kagome turned into Inuyasha, "Want to play superhero game with us?"

"But, Kagomeeeeee! He didn't know anything about the game," Kouga protested.

"Well….. we can always teach him," Kagome retorted.

"It's okay. I know the game," Inuyasha chuckled.

"You do? So, you forgive us," Kagome raised his eyebrows.

"Yes," Inuyasha answered, "So, what's our team name?"

"Hahh?" The other four children gave him a puzzled look. They didn't understand what he tried to say.

"Our team name! Surely you know that everyone superhero team has it own name?" Inuyasha pointed out.

"Well…. That….." Miroku answered, scratching his head, "we don't any name at all."

"Heyyy….. Let's figure out a name then," Sango suggested.

"Sound good," Kouga agreed, "How about Kouga's Team?"

"Can't you thing other thing at all?" Inuyasha questioned.

"Then, what would you suggest?" Kouga asked impatiently.

"How about this? Let's call ourselves Chibi Defender," Inuyasha suggested cheerfully.

"Chibi Defender….. hmm….. that's sound nice," Kagome agreed.

"Then, let's call ourselves Chibi Defender," Sango exclaimed happily.

Kouga shrugged and said, "I'm only agreeing this because Kagome agreed."

Miroku and Sango just giggled. They knew Kouga had a crush on Kagome. With that, the children began their game. First, they needed to determine everyone's position like who was going to be at the middle and so on. So, they wrote each position on five different, small pieces of paper and folded them. Their position will be determined by the paper that they picked. The children then picked the folded papers randomly without looking at them. This was to make sure that none of them will peek on the paper to choose their favourite position.

And, the result was quite surprising to everyone. Inuyasha was at the middle. Kagome and Sango stood at left and right side of Inuyasha respectively. Kouga was at the right side of Kagome while Miroku was at the left side of Sango. Kouga clearly did not like the arrangement of their position. He wanted to be at the middle. After all, middle was a leader's position and he wanted to be a leader.

"Why he get to be in the middle?" Kouga voiced his objection, pointing at Inuyasha.

"Because… we select our position randomly, remember? It's natural if he gets to be at the middle," Kagome said patiently, getting tired at Kouga's grumbling.

"Yeah…. That's right. Don't get so upset just because you don't get to be at the middle," Inuyasha grinned.

Kouga wanted to argue back but Sango stepped in, "Oh…. Come on…. Let's just start it already. If we keep arguing over silly thing like this, we'll never start the game."

"I agree with Sango. It's not like it is permanent. We can always rotate our position, Kouga. And, you're not the only one who want to be at the middle," Miroku reasoned, looking at Kagome and Sango.

"That's right," Sango and Kagome said at the same time.

Kouga could not argue back. It was four versus one. Obviously, the four won by the rule of majority. Kagome was very happy when Kouga gave in to them. Everything will be fine. They can play together as a friend at last. Or, so she thought.

"Miroku, monk in training."

"Kouga, the wolf youkai."

"Sango, exterminator in training."

"Kagome, miko in training."

"Inuyasha, the strongest kid in the world."

"We are…." All of them said loudly at the same time and gave their ultimate pose, "the Chibi Defender!" _(A/N: Please imagine power rangers again.)_

They all then started to giggle except for one person, Kouga. He clearly did not like Inuyasha's call out. It was as if Inuyasha was trying to outdo him and he did not like it at all.

"Heyyyy….. why did you said like that?" Kouga asked irritately.

"What?" Inuyasha gave a puzzled look.

He didn't like Kouga. It was not like he hated him. It was just that Kouga didn't treat him nicely as everyone else. It was as if Kouga tried to pick a fight with him.

"Inuyasha, the strongest kid in the world. What is that all about?" Kouga asked intensely.

"Why can't I? We are free to create our own pose," Inuyasha pointed out, trying to hold his anger.

"Well….. I don't like it! Change it into something else, stupid dog," Kouga said, pulling Inuyasha's silver hair.

"Ouch! That's hurt!" Inuyasha yelled, pushing down Kouga on the ground.

Kouga landed hard on the ground. He and his other three friends were shocked. Inuyasha actually can fight back him? Inuyasha was always quiet in the class. He looked so weak, fragile and easy to be bullied. So, Kouga never expected Inuyasha to push him down like this. Suddenly, anger came to him. He cannot let Inuyasha humiliated him in front of his friends, especially when Kagome was here. He totally forgot that it was his fault in the first place.

Kouga charged on Inuyasha without thinking. He pushed Inuyasha hard on the ground. Inuyasha certainly did not want to back down. Not after his brother had taught him a little on fighting. He definitely won't let Kouga hit him. Before Kagome, Miroku and Sango could stop them, Inuyasha and Kouga started punching and kicking each other. This fight caught the attention of other children. They started to gather forming a circle around Inuyasha and Kouga to see their fight.

Kagome tried to stop them, "Stop it you guys! Or, I'll call the teacher!"

However, Inuyasha and Kouga did not pay attention to Kagome. Thing became worse when the other children started to cheer them on. Miroku knew this will be out of control soon. So, he did what he could do to stop them. He called their teacher, Nazuna-sensei. He knew they would only stop if their teacher scolded them. He tried as fast as he can to fetch their teacher. By the time Nazuna-sensei arrived, the boys were covered with scratches, bruises and dirt. Their teacher was clearly surprised when she saw the fight. She was even more surprised when she knew who got involved in the fight.

She was certainly did not expect that Inuyasha out of all people will get involved in a fight. He was a good child and rarely cause problem in the class. She stopped the fight, dispersing the gathered children and looked at the two boys sternly. Inuyasha and Kouga immediately knew they were in big trouble. Nazuna-sensei was a nice teacher. However, she could be very scary when she was mad. And, it was clearly that she was mad now.

"Now, why did both of you fight?" Nazuna-sensei asked sternly at Inuyasha and Kouga.

Almost automatically, the two boys pointed accusingly at each other and said loudly at the same time, "He's the on who started it first!"

"You pushed me down," Kouga shouted.

"You pulled my hair," Inuyasha yelled back.

"OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Nazuna-sensei ordered. That silenced the two boys. "Now, tell me what had happened."

However, none of the two boys wanted to say anything. They just remained silent. Nazuna-sensei sighed heavily. She can't solve the problem if she didn't know what had happened. Kogome then volunteered herself to explain the situation. She recounted what had just happened. After listening to Kagome, Nazuna-sensei just shook her head. It was just a silly matter. And yet, they fought as if it was a big deal.

"Kouga, you shouldn't pull Inuyasha's hair. And Inuyasha, you shouldn't push down Kouga like that. Both of you apologize to each other now," Nazuna-sensei said.

"I'm sorry for pulling your hair, Inuyasha."

"I'm sorry too for pushing you down, Kouga."

"That's good. Now, go to your classroom now. Recess period is over," Nazuna-sensei said.

The five children walked to their classroom. Inuyasha and Kouga still kept a distance from each other. This disturbed Kagome, Miroku and Sango. Both Inuyasha and Kouga were their friends. They didn't want their friends to fight each other anymore. Suddenly, an idea came to Sango.

"Heyy…. Why don't we go to Sunshine Amusement Park this weekend? It's as a celebration for forming Chibi Defender," Sango suggested eagerly.

That really attracted everyone's attention, including Inuyasha and Kouga. After all, Sunshine Amusement Park was the largest amusement park in the city. It had many amazing rides and attractions. Sango just grinned at her friends' reaction. It was priceless.

"I got a few tickets from my father. It's more than enough for us," Sango explained.

"But, we still need someone to look after us. Our parents will never let us go without a babysitter. And, my parents will be away on this weekend," Miroku pointed out.

"Mine too," Kouga said.

"Well….. I can ask my sister. However, I doubt she can come along with us. She was too busy lately."

"I guess the same thing goes for me," Sango sighed.

"My mother too has something to take care this weekend," Inuyasha answered.

The five children were at the end of they hoped when Kagome suddenly got an idea, "Hey, Inuyasha! What about your big brother? He's in middle school, right? He can babysit us."

Scratching his head, Inuyasha answered, "Well…. I think he's free this weekend. But, we need to ask him first. How about all of us ask him after school? We can go home together too."

All of them agreed with Inuyasha's suggestion. And so, they waited patiently for the school to end. As soon as the bell rang, they immediately went to the school gate. That was where Sesshoumaru had promised to wait for Inuyasha before they walked home. It seemed that Sesshoumaru arrived earlier than them. Perhaps it was because his class ended early or perhaps it was because he was too eager to return Tenseiga to Toutosai. On his hand, there was Tenseiga. He was surprised to see a bunch of kids following behind Inuyasha as Inuyasha approached him.

"Sesshy…. One of my friends, Sango, has tickets to an amusement park. But, we need someone to babysit us. So….," Inuyasha said, trying to be as sweet as possible, "Can you babysit us this weekend?"

Sesshoumaru was stunned with his little brother's request and answered almost spontaneously, "There's no way I'm going to spend my weekend to babysit you guys, Inuyasha."

"But, Sesshy… its Sunshine Amusement Park," Inuyasha said with pleading eyes.

"It's still a no," Sesshoumaru stated flatly.

Inuyasha knew his brother was too stubborn. Once he made a decision, it was hard to change it. However, Inuyasha did not want to miss the opportunity to go to Sunshine Theme Park. It was a great opportunity. Furthermore, it was free. He looked down at the ground disappointedly until his eyes caught the sight of Tenseiga in his brother's hand. Suddenly, an idea hit his head. There was a way to make his brother changed his mind. He turned to his friends and smiled slyly. He then whispered his plan to his friends. His friends just smiled and nodded in agreement. Inuyasha then turned to Sesshoumaru.

"But, Sesshy…. You might miss the opportunity to see Toutosai-san there," Inuyasha said, trying to say as natural as possible.

"And you know this from….." Sesshoumaru trailed off. He had a feeling that Inuyasha was up to something.

"From me," Sango stepped in, "My father is Toutosai-san's regular customer. Father says that Toutosai-san might set up his stall there."

"And I should agree it because…"

"It's not a bad thing. You can return the sword to Toutosai-san. And at the same time, you can have fun at the amusement park. It's like killing two birds with one stone. Plus, it's free right, Sango?" Inuyasha shifted his attention from Sesshoumaru to Sango.

"That's right," Sango nodded.

"Besides, we promise we will be good. We won't cause you any problem. So…..,"

Before Inuyasha could finish his sentence, his four friends said loudly in unison with the cutest face that they can made, "PLEASE BRING US TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK, SESSHOU-NIISAN!"

This really put Sesshoumaru in a difficult situation. Part of him didn't want to spend his weekend to babysit a bunch of kids. However, part of him wanted to have fun and get done whatever he needed with Toutosai. Plus, the children were pleading to him. It was hard to just ignore and resist their adorable, cute face. Finally, after a hard internal battle within himself, he gave in to the children.

"Okay…okay… just remember your promise," Sesshoumaru sighed.

"YEEEAAAAHHHHH!" the children exclaimed happily.

Not far from the school gate, Princess Ebi stared intensely at the little boy who she hated. The one who humiliated her and stole her precious Naraku from her. "So….. his name is Inuyasha. Well… he better be careful. Accidents do tend to happen at amusement park." With this thought, she disappeared into a thin air.


	11. Chapter 11: Making A Move

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 11: Making A Move

"No."

"But, Mom… Sesshy can babysit us."

"The answer is still no."

The answer was so simple and yet it had a huge effect on this weekend plan, shattering Inuyasha's hope and excitement at the same time. Izayoi said it so firmly and yet gently at the same time. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha found that it was hard to argue back with their mother. This made Sesshoumaru glad because he didn't want to babysit the kids. He agreed with the kids' plan because he couldn't find a strong, valid reason to decline them. Now, he had a valid reason to decline them. He didn't really care much in returning Tenseiga since it was too troublesome for him. If it was not because of Izayoi, he would have thrown away the sword.

He just smirked and gave a I-told-you-so-that-mom-won't-let-us-go glare to Inuyasha. Inuyasha fully understood his elder brother's smirk and glare. However, he was too stubborn to give up just like this. It was something that he was looking forward after all. Furthermore, it was too good to pass the chance like this. It was not like he frequently went to an amusement park. Inuyasha was fully determined to go there.

"Look like I don't have to take you to amusement park this weekend," Sesshoumaru smirked.

"But, you promised," Inuyasha said.

"Only if Mom lets us go," Sesshoumaru answered flatly.

"So, if I can convince her to let us go, you will agree to take us to amusement park?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah, right. Like she would agree," Sesshoumaru said mockingly.

"She will agree. Want to take a bet?"

"Sure. If you can convince her, you'll win. I'll take you the amusement park. Plus, I'll buy you anything you want at there. If you lose, you'll do whatever I say for a week," Sesshoumaru said with confident.

Inuyasha hesitated for a moment. Winning the bet meant he can go to the amusement park. However, losing the bet will cause him to be his brother's errand boy for a week. Suddenly, he wished he could control his temper and think before doing something. He cannot just back down from his brother's challenge.

"O….okay. I agree," Inuyasha answered hesitantly.

Sesshoumaru seemed to notice Inuyasha's hesitation and smirked, "If that so, you have five days before this weekend to convince mom."

Inuyasha tried to stay calm and hide his nervousness. He can still beat Sesshoumaru in his bet. He still has five days to change his mother's mind before weekend comes. And, that's what he did for the rest of five days. He tried to persuade his mother to let him to go to the amusement park. However, Inuyasha was not the only one who was busy in the past five days.

At Naraku's castle…..

Princess Ebi paced forward and backward in her room. Should she take the advantage over this situation? Over the past five days, Naraku had locked himself in a room at the North Tower of his castle. Nobody knew what he did in the room. Naraku had ordered everyone to not disturb him. Well, Naraku was not only the one who was busy with his plan. Princess Ebi too had her own plan and wanted to carry it out. She was pretty sure that Naraku wouldn't leave his room for another two days.

This was a good opportunity to pass on. She had been thinking many ways to lure that brat into an open place where she can kill him easily. . An amusement park would be a suitable place. It was easier for her plan to be executed now since that brat was planning to go to such place. It did not matter whether he went alone or with other people. She can always find a way to separate him from his friends at such large place. This should be easy.

"Well, Naraku can't totally blame me if the place that I happen to target is the place where that boy goes," Princess Ebi smirked.

Meanwhile…..

Naraku smiled evilly at a necklace. The necklace was on the floor, at the middle of oddly drawn circle. It has a pure, white crystal on it. The room was very dark. There were only candles to illuminate the room. Naraku smiled satisfyingly at his work. He had spent five days in the room to cast a spell on the necklace. It will need another two days to complete the spell.

"Soon, it will be complete," Naraku smirked.

However, locking himself in the room to cast the spell on the necklace was not the only thing that Naraku did in the past five days. He also had ordered his underlinings to aggressively collect the souls. They needed to collect souls as much as possible before the full moon came. However, things would be very easy if unnecessary interferences did not happen. Naraku really did not like the development of his plan. It seemed there were two people who greatly hinder his plan.

First, the miko named Kikyou. She always showed up to stop them to steal the soul. It was not like she can do anything to threaten them. She can't defeat them alone by herself even though she had a strong spiritual power. However, lately, she was starting to become a threat. She started to gather help from many people such as exterminators, monks and certain tribes of youkai. Since then, it became more difficult to collect souls without a hard fight.

Second, Princess Ebi. At first, Naraku kept her because she was useful to his plan. She can help him to collect more souls for him. However, she was starting to become a nuisance to Naraku. She kept questioning his plan and his reason for letting the little boy alive even though she didn't say it directly to him. Naraku knew she hated that child so much. She probably would kill the boy behind his back if she got a chance. But, he cannot let her to do it because the boy was very important in his plan.

"I better handle both of them before they become a trouble," Naraku thought.

At Higurashi's residence…..

Kikyou sat in the kitchen, drinking a cup of tea. Her little sister, Kagome was still at the school. Kikyou was reflecting what had happened in the past five days. For some reasons, the Soul Stealer had increased the number of their attacks. Within the past five days, hundreds of souls had been stolen. This gave her a bad feeling. It was like they were in a hurry and desperate. As if, they were running out of time.

But, in hurry for what?

Kikyou did not know this. However, she did know that if this kept going on, the city will be in a great danger. Because of that, she had sought helps from exterminators, monks and youkai. She knew she can't do this alone all by herself. Thanked to their help, Kikyou managed to fight back the Soul Stealer. But, it was still not enough to stop Soul Stealer from stealing the soul. This was not the only problem that bothered her too.

For some reasons, there was no news or anything about Naraku since the battle at the lake. Kikyou thought since he had made his appearance at the lake, he would start to show up in every fight. However, he did not show up in any fight. He just sent his underlinings to do the works. It was like he had disappeared. Kikyou knew he was up to some things. Most probably it had something to do with Inuyasha. So far, there was nothing suspicious that happened around him which made Kikyou a little bit of relief. Suddenly, Kikyou heard footsteps running to the kitchen.

"Sis, can I ask you a favour?" Kagome asked, panting for air.

"What is it?" Kikyou asked curiously.

"Can you convince Inuyasha's mom to let us go to amusement park tomorrow? Inuyasha says you maybe able to change his mother's mind," Kagome said eagerly.

"Amusement park?" Kikyou raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Sango got tickets from her father to Sunshine Amusement Park. So, me, Sango, Miroku, Kouga and Inuyasha are going there tomorrow. Inuyasha's big brother can babysit us. But, the problem is Inuyasha's mom won't let him go there. Can you ask her to let him go?" Kagome explained.

Kikyou thought for a moment, "An amusement park? This is probably a good chance to get close to the two brothers and get information about them. Maybe I should go with them tomorrow. Besides, no one knows when or where Soul Stealer will attack again."

"I can go with you tomorrow. Maybe his mom will allow him if she knows I will come along," Kikyou suggested.

"Is it really okay? You were busy and looked tired in the past five days," Kagome asked worriedly.

Kagome knew Kikyou did not have proper rest recently. She was busy fighting with bad guys. Sometimes, Kagome wished she could help her sister with her work as a miko. She knew it was not easy to be a miko. Therefore, she did not want to burden her sister with unnecessary request.

"It's okay. Going to amusement park is a good way to relax and rest too," Kikyou said with a smile, knowing Kagome was worried with her health. "I'll give Inuyasha's mom a phone call."

At Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's house…

"For a hundred times, Inuyasha, the answer is no," Izayoi sighed.

Izayoi never expected that Inuyasha can be persistent and stubborn sometimes. Usually, he would just stay quiet when Izayoi said no to him. But, this time, it was different. For the past five days, he had been asking her to let him go to the amusement park whenever he got a chance.

"But, mom, why can't I go? Sesshy can babysit us. Besides, we may find Toutosai-san at the amusement park. Isn't you're the one who insists us to find him to return the sword," Inuyasha tried to reason.

"Well….. Sesshoumaru alone is not enough. The amusement park is too big and you guys are too many. He may not be able to watch over you guys alone. He needs at least another one person to help him in watching over you guys," Izayoi explained.

Truthfully, he did not want her sons to go to amusement park. She had a feeling that something bad will happen. She had tried to shake off this feeling many times. However, it grew stronger and stronger. What if her sons were attacked while spending time at the amusement park? She could not take the risk especially when they had been attacked twice and her husband was not around here.

"So….. If I can find this other person to babysit us, you'll let me go to the amusement park?" Inuyasha asked eagerly.

"I suppose… if I think that person can babysit you," Izayoi answered hesitantly.

"Kagome said she'll ask her sister, Kikyou to come with us. So, if Kikyou-neesan agree to come, you'll let me go, right?" Inuyasha asked persistently.

"Well, if that girl really comes I suppose its okay. If anything happens, at least I know someone can keep them safe," Izayoi thought deeply.

"Well, I guess its okay," she said after thinking for a while.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Izayoi picked up the phone. To her surprise, it was Kikyou. They talked a bit for awhile. Inuyasha heard attentively at their conversation. It seemed that Kikyou had agreed to come along with the children to the amusement park. Inuyasha smiled happily at hearing this. Now, his mother did not have any excuse to not let him to go to the amusement park. After the conversation ended and Izayoi put down the phone, Inuyasha looked at her with bright, cute golden eyes. Izayoi knew what he wanted to said.

"Okay, you can go. Kagome's sister had agreed to come along," Izayoi said weakly.

"Yeeeeaaaaah…. Thank you, mom!," Inuyasha exclaimed, hugging his mother.

He was so happy. His efforts in the past five days were finally paid off. He can't wait to tell his friends and especially his big brother. He grinned. "Sesshy will definitely be surprised." And, he was right. The shocked look on Sesshoumaru's face was priceless. When he heard the news from Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru could not believe it first. He refused to think he had lost the bet to Inuyasha. He thought Inuyasha was making it up. It took him to hear it directly from his stepmother to believe the news.

"There goes my whole month pocket money," Sesshoumaru sighed, thinking what his little brother would tell him to buy.

p.s. Review and comment are always welcome.


	12. Chapter 12: Guardian Of Chibi Defender

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 12: Guardian Of Chibi Defender

It was a lovely day. Perfect for people to have fun at amusement park. Sesshoumaru sighed. He looked at Tenseiga at his hand and then at his little brother in front of him. His little brother was walking side by side with his friends. They were chattering and laughing. It seemed Kagome's sister, Kikyou, had something to do first and will come late to the amusement park. This meant until Kikyou came, Sesshoumaru had to babysit them alone. Sesshoumaru did not like the idea at all.

If possible, he preferred to spend his weekend by watching video and playing games. He didn't want to babysit some children or find some old, weird weapon maker on his weekend. But then, he couldn't do anything about it. He lost the bet to Inuyasha. He cursed himself for making that stupid bet with his little brother. And then, there was Izayoi. She kept insisting him to find Toutosai to return the sword especially when she heard from Inuyasha that Toutosai may be at the amusement. His train of thought was stopped when he heard a loud noise from the children.

"Miroku, monk in training."

"Kouga, the wolf youkai."

"Sango, exterminator in training."

"Kagome, miko in training."

"Inuyasha, the strongest kid in the world."

"We are…." All of them said loudly at the same time and gave their ultimate pose, "the Chibi Defender!" _(A/N: Please imagine power rangers again.)_

Sesshoumaru can't believe what had happened in front of his eyes. Those brats actually played that stupid game in front of crowd at this amusement park. Not only that, they had to yell it out and do some stupid poses. What had happened to the promise 'we won't cause any trouble to you'? Sesshoumaru looked at people around of them to see their reaction to those brats' stupid game. Some just looked at the children with amusement. Some smiled and others giggled at their silliness. However, the most things that Sesshoumaru can't stand were their comments.

"Oh, my. Aren't they adorable?"

"They're so cute."

"I wonder who their guardian is."

"I hope their guardian can look after them. They seem to be quite active children."

"Do you think their guardian is adorable and cute like them too?"

Sesshoumaru become redder and redder when he heard those comments. He didn't know whether he was angry or embarrassed. There were so many things that struggling inside him. Part of him told him to smack the children's head as hard as he could and scold them at top of his lung. Another part of him told him to abandon the children alone, go home and lock himself in his room, pretending that this was just a dream. It was never happened before. Some part of him told him to lash out at the crowd who laughed at the scene.

Trying to clam himself down, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Calm down, Sesshoumaru. They're just kids. They're just kids. What can they do? Calm down. They don't know anything. It's not like you have to babysit them alone. Kikyou-san will be here at any minute."

This thought made him relieved and calmed down a bit. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the children. They were laughing and giggling.

"See. They're not bad as they seem. Look at their innocent laugh and cute face. How troublesome and destructive they can be any way?" Sesshoumaru thought again.

Well, this though was made before they spent three hours at the amusement park. Sesshoumaru didn't know what made him thought like that. Probably because he never babysat five children at one time. Or probably because he saw how easy Izayoi handled children at any age. Or maybe because he had less experiences in handling children. Sesshoumaru did not know about this. However, he did know how wrong his opinion about the children. Children can be troublesome and destructive. That was why no matter how sweet, adorable and cute the children can be, never ever let your guard down. Because, if you do, disaster will happen. And, Sesshoumaru learned this in a hard way.

The first disaster happened when the wolf kid, Kouga, raised his hand and made a ridiculous suggestion, "Hey, since we're Chibi Defender, let's do something that is challenging."

"Like what?" Kagome inquired.

"Let's go to Horror House. It's one of the most popular attractions in this park. I heard there are a lot of scary stuffs in that place," Kouga answered with a grin.

"Wow, that's cool. Let's go," Sango said excitedly.

"Are you sure? That place is way too scary for you guys," Sesshoumaru questioned them.

"It's okay. We're Chibi Defender. If we get scare over something like this, we won't call ourselves Chibi Defender," Kouga said bravely and eagerly.

Inuyasha and Kagome were uncertain with Kouga's suggestion. They didn't like to go to scary places. But, they didn't want Kouga to make fun out of them. So, they just go along with his suggestion. Since everyone wanted to go to Horror House, Sesshoumaru took them there. They had to wait for awhile before they can enter into Horror House. Sesshoumaru had to admit that that place looked creepy and eerily. It was probably because of its good costumes, make up and the sound effects that it had. Sesshoumaru could see that the children were very nervous with this place especially that Kouga kid.

"Do you guys really want to go to this place? I see that some of you are scared already," Sesshoumaru asked.

"No, we want to go," said the five children firmly.

Sesshoumaru sighed at their stubbornness. They then entered into the Horror House. At the beginning, nothing much happened. Later, the scary fake ghosts started to show up out of nowhere. Of course, at first, the kids tried to act brave and hide as best as they can their fear. However, as they walked, the place became scarier and scarier. They soon can no longer hide their fear. Every time something popped out of nowhere, the kids will scream and cling to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru clearly did not like this. The kids' scream was very loud and annoying. He thought his head was about to explode every time he heard their scream. And he definitely didn't like to be cling by these kids. They hindered his movement. He hardly can move freely without worrying about falling down. Sesshoumaru could not wait to reach the exit. This was starting to become ridiculous. He become a bit relieved when he saw the exit was near. The children felt the same too. They started to calm down a bit.

Suddenly, a coffin showed up of nowhere in front of them. And from the coffin, a scary, ugly and terrifying Dracula jumped out. The Dracula had very big fangs and claws. There was a stain of blood on his clothes. Of course, this was not real and only fake blood. If you watched it closely, its colour didn't seem to match with real blood. However, the children were too scared to analyze the situation. They screamed at top of their lung. Well, Sesshoumaru didn't really blame them for this. In fact, he too was shocked when the Dracula showed up even though he didn't scream like the children.

Thing became more chaos when the Dracula said in a scary tone, "Which little children should I eat first?"

That really scared the children. In their fear, they accidentally pushed Sesshoumaru which caused him to crash on the Dracula. Sesshoumaru was really surprised when he found himself on the floor along with the Dracula.

Before Sesshoumaru could figure out what had happened, he heard Inuyasha's scream, "Oh, no! The Dracula got Sesshy. Attack him!"

The Dracula too was clearly shocked like Sesshoumaru when he fell down on the floor. He was more shocked when the children started to attack him. They bit and clawed him. He tried to stand up and stop the children. However, they were too aggressive. Sesshoumaru was too shocked. He didn't know what to do. Suddenly, there was a loud sound and the place become too bright. A very angry man stormed toward them. From his appearance, Sesshoumaru knew he was this place's manager. That really stopped the children from attacking the poor Dracula. They quickly hid behind Sesshoumaru.

"What are you doing?" the manager asked angrily.

Sesshoumaru immediately knew this was not a good thing. And he was right. The manager scolded them for what they did to his worker. He even threatened to sue them if they did it again. Luckily, since the Dracula only got scratches and bruises, the manager did not ask them to pay any compensation. He just told them to leave the Horror House. So, without any delay, Sesshoumaru dragged the kids from that place. When he was sure they were far from the Horror House, he started to scold them.

"Why did you do that? Why did you push me and attack that guy?" Sesshoumaru asked angrily.

The children looked at each other. They were speechless. Sesshoumaru was very mad at them. They did not want him to yell them if their answer was unreasonable to him. Sesshoumaru become more impatience with their silence.

"Do you want to answer me or not? Or you prefer to go home now?" Sesshoumaru threatened.

"No, please don't take us home," Kagome said with watery eyes.

"We're sorry. We didn't mean to push you," Sango sobbed.

"We got so scared. The coffin showed up of nowhere," Miroku added.

"So, we accidentally pushed you," Kouga's voice trailed off.

"And then, we saw you on the floor with the Dracula. You didn't get up. So, we thought the Dracula got you. That's why we attacked him. We wanted to free you," Inuyasha answered.

"We are truly sorry for our action. Please don't send us home. We want to play more," the children begged in their sob.

Sesshoumaru sighed. He didn't like to see them crying. It made him looked like a bully or a bad guy.

"It's okay. Let's go buy some ice cream," Sesshoumaru suggested, attempting to stop them from crying.

"Okay!" the children exclaimed happily.

Sesshoumaru later regretted his decision to buy them ice cream because it leaded to the second disaster. It happened when Inuyasha accidentally dropped his own ice cream. Luckily, Kagome was nice enough to share her ice cream with Inuyasha. Now, the problem started when Kouga too wanted to taste some of Kagome's ice cream and tried to take it forcefully from Inuyasha's hand.

"Hey, Inuyasha, I want to taste some too," Kouga said, trying to take the ice cream from Inuyasha's hand.

"But, you have your own ice cream. Besides, it's the same flavour," Inuyasha argued.

"That's right, Kouga. You shouldn't do like that," Kagome said.

Ignoring what Kagome said, Kouga grabbed the ice cream from Inuyasha. Of course Inuyasha didn't stand there just like that. He took it back before Kouga had the chance to lick it. Soon, the two boys started to fight over the ice cream. Each one of them claimed that they the one who should have the ice cream. Sesshoumaru tried to stop the two boys from fighting. In amidst of the fight, the ice cream flew out of their hands and fall on top of Sesshoumaru's head. For a moment, the fight stopped. Nobody dared to speak anything.

Later, Sesshoumaru's face started to become redder and redder. He was very angry. Of course he should be angry. His silky, long, silver hair had been ruined by ice cream. He was like a volcano that was ready to erupt. The children knew this was not a good sign especially Inuyasha. He knew when his big brother got angry he can be really scary and terrifying. They started to back away from Sesshoumaru slowly, waiting for his reaction. If thing become worse, they probably needed to run.

"WHY YOU LITLLE BRATS…..," Sesshoumaru screamed at top of his lung, ignoring the crowds at the park.

However, before he could finish, a voice called out to him, "Sesshoumaru-kun, is that you?"

It was Kikyou. She was wearing her miko outfits and was carrying her bow and arrows. This brought back Sesshoumaru's sense. He was glad to see Kikyou. Now, he didn't need to look after the children alone.

"Yes, it is me, Kikyou-san," Sesshoumaru said.

"I'm sorry that I come late. So, where are my sister and her friends?" Kikyou asked.

"Well, they are right….."

Sesshoumaru blinked. He can't believe his eyes. They were gone. The children were not there. Kikyou looked at Sesshoumaru with confusion. Sesshoumaru didn't know what to say. He tried to look around him. But, there was no sign of the children.

"Please don't tell me they are missing," Sesshoumaru prayed in his heart.

But, it was true.

Sesshoumaru, the guardian of Chibi Defender had lost Chibi Defender.


	13. Chapter 13: Danger In Amusement Park

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 13: Danger In Amusement Park

Sesshoumaru tried to calm down. He cannot get panicked over something like this. Maybe the children wanted to play a prank on him. Maybe they hid somewhere around here, watching him right now. Maybe they wanted to scare him or maybe…..maybe they were afraid of him. What if…what if they ran away because he was shouting at them? That was not good. This place was very huge. The children could be at anywhere. How he was supposed to find them? His stepmother will definitely not be happy with him when she heard he had lost them at this amusement park.

"Inuyasha! Kagome! Kouga! Sango! Miroku! Come here right now!" Sesshoumaru called out.

However, the children did not come to him. This made him become more anxious. He could feel Kikyou was staring at him worriedly.

He called out again with a louder voice, "You guys! This is not funny! Come out now!"

Again, there was no response. Kikyou approached Sesshoumaru slowly. She hoped what she thought in her mind did not happen to the children. "Please don't tell me the children are missing at this big park."

"Sesshoumaru, where are them?" Kikyou asked him cautiously.

"I….they… they were here…right before I turned to greet you….. I was sure. They probably just run away to hide themselves," Sesshoumaru's voice trailed off, trying to provide reasonable answer to Kikyou.

"Why would they want to run away?" Kikyou asked further.

"Inuyasha and Kouga got into a fight about ice cream and accidentally made it fall on top of my head. I got so angry because they had ruined my hair. So, I was kind of yelling at them," Sesshoumaru explained.

"I see….. I guess it's better to find them first before anything happen to them. Can you track them through their scent?"

"Well…. I'll try. But, it may be a bit difficult. There are too many other scents at this place," Sesshoumaru said.

However, before Kikyou and Sesshoumaru could start tracking down the children, a great explosion occurred not very far from them. The explosion was so great that the ground was shaken. The crowds were screaming and running for their life. Everyone wanted to get out from the dangerous place as soon as possible. Sesshoumaru and Kikyou were shocked with the crowds' panic outburst. They tried as hard as they can to make their way to the place where explosion occurred. It was not easy especially if you had to fight your way through the crowds. It took them some time but they managed to make their way.

As soon as they arrived at that place, they saw countless of youkai and human bodies lay on the ground. They were not moving. Kikyou slowly approached and kneeled beside one of the bodies on the ground to inspect it. It was a girl's body. She was probably at the same age as Sesshoumaru. Kikyou checked the girl's pulse and heartbeat. They were still there. Kikyou was sure that the girl was still alive and did not suffer any fatal wounds. However, the girl's body was very cold, as cold as an ice. There was no warmth in her body even though she was still alive. Not to mention, her eyes were dull, blank and lifeless. This caused Kikyou to arrive to a conclusion.

Kikyou inspected another few more bodies to confirm her suspicious. They all showed the same symptoms as the girl. They were still alive and yet, their body was very cold. Sesshoumaru seemed to notice this. He tried to shake and yell at them to wake them up. However, it was futile. They just lay there like a broken doll. He was very confused. He never encountered anything like this. He turned his attention to Kikyou who was walking toward him. She seemed to have finished her inspection.

"Are they dead? What happened to them?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"They are not dead. They just become an empty shelled doll since someone had stolen their soul," Kikyou explained in a sad tone.

"You mean….."

"Yeah…it's Soul Stealer's work."

Before they could finish their conversation, there was another loud explosion. It was near the Horror House. Sesshoumaru and Kikyou could see a great pillar of electricity coming from that direction. They immediately got the idea who they were dealing with. They still did not forget their previous experience at Spring Lake. Sesshoumaru sniffed the air to confirm his suspicion. He caught Princess Ebi's scent coming from the direction of the explosion. However, that was not the only scent that he caught.

"It's her, that bird woman. I'm still remembering her scent. But…, that's not the only scent I caught. I caught the children's scent too…" Sesshoumaru said worriedly.

"WHAT?" Kikyou yelled.

Kikyou quickly got ready her arrow and bow. She did not want to make the same mistake like at the previous battle in Spring Lake. Sesshoumaru too drew out Tenseiga. For the first time, he was grateful that he had brought along Tenseiga with him. At least, he had another weapon other than his claws and fangs to fight. They ran as fast as they can to the scene. As they came nearer, they heard a scream.

"INUYASHA!"

It was Kagome's scream. They increased their running speed. As soon as they arrived, they saw Princess Ebi's right hand was warping tightly around Inuyasha's neck, lifting him from the ground. Sango, Miroku and Kouga were lying unconsciously on the ground. There were many cuts and bruises on their body. Kagome too was badly injured. She was barely able to stand up. Inuyasha tried as hard as he can to free himself from Princess Ebi's grip. He clawed her hand in hope that she will drop him out of pain. However, it did not work.

"Let's him go!" Sesshoumaru yelled in rage, charging to Princess Ebi with Tenseiga in his hand.

Sesshoumaru's yell caught Princess Ebi's attention. She shifted her attention from Inuyasha to Sesshoumaru without even loosing her grip on Inuyasha. Before Sesshoumaru could strike her off, she shot a blast of lightning from her scepter. Sesshouaru tried to block the attack with Tenseiga. However, the attack was too strong that it threw him a few meters back on the ground. Kikyou quickly went to Sesshoumaru's side to help him out. Inuyasha was horrified and relieved at the same time. Horrified because Sesshoumaru got many cuts and his head was bleeding from the attack. Relieved because Sesshoumaru was still alive.

"Sesshy!" Inuyasha called out in his weak voice.

"Oh, my. It seemed I accidentally blasted your big brother," Princess Ebi taunted Inuyasha.

Inuyasha struggled more desperately. Princess Ebi just smirked. She loved watching Inuyasha's futile struggling. She slightly applied more pressure on her grip. She wanted to see him suffered more. Inuyasha felt the increased grip's pressure around his neck. It was slowly bit surely cutting the oxygen supply to his lung. His face started to turn into blue. His struggling became weaker and weaker. Princess Ebi smiled at this sight until ….a rock hit her beautiful face.

Yes, a rock had been perfectly thrown to her face. For a moment, nobody dared to make a sound or moved including Princess Ebi for everyone was very shocked to see the gut of seven years old Kagome. Kagome actually threw a rock to Princess Ebi. The throw did not scratch Princess Ebi's face at all. However, it definitely hurt her pride a lot since her face had turned into red. Kikyou quickly snapped out from the sudden silence and shot an arrow directly toward Princess Ebi's head, intending to finish her off in one shot.

The arrow would perfectly hit the target if Princess Ebi did not snap out from her daze at the last moment. She barely dodged the arrow. It only grazed her cheek. Princess Ebi touched cautiously her cheek. There was blood. Suddenly, she became very enraged. Somebody just dared to ruin her beautiful face. Nobody can do that to her and get away just like that. She summoned more power from the gem on her scepter. The gem started to glow brightly. A strange, strong, red aura started to envelop Princess Ebi. Kikyou and Sesshoumaru can sense the increase in Princess Ebi's power.

"DIE!" Princess Ebi yelled, bringing out a powerful lightning attack from her scepter.

"Sesshy….Kagome…Kikyou-neesan….," Inuyasha called out in a weak voice as he helplessly saw the attack came to them.

The attack came without a warning and it was even stronger than the attack used on Sesshoumaru previously. Kikyou knew they cannot survive from this attack if she did not do something quickly and fast. Mustering all her spiritual power, she quickly erected a barrier around them to block the attack. However, the attack was too strong. The barrier could not absorb and deflect all the attack, causing it to shatter and threw them back on the wall. Kagome was knocked out in the process. The only people who were not knocked out from the attack were Sesshoumaru and Kikyou.

However, they were not in a good condition to fight. Kikyou's leg and arm were badly injured. She did not know whether she could use her bow and arrow effectively with her condition right now. Sesshoumaru was not in a good condition too. His clothes were soaked with his blood. Ignoring the pain on his body, he gripped tightly Tenseiga and took a fighting stance. From the even and steady movement of the children's chest, Kikyou knew the children were at least alive.

"How did she suddenly become more powerful? Last time we fought her, her attack was not as powerful as this," Kikyou pondered hard. Suddenly, something clicked on her mind when she saw the gem on Princess Ebi's scepter. "Of course, the gem on her scepter. Her power started increase after that gem glowed brightly."

"It seems you manage to survive from my attack. How about this one?" Princess Ebi said in deadly tone while gathering more power on her scepter.

"No… Don't hurt them…or else I'll…" said Inuyasha in a weak voice.

"Well, I don't care. What are you going to do? Kill me?" Princess Ebi taunted Inuyasha

Suddenly, something strange happened. A strange, strong, white light started to engulf Inuyasha. Before anyone knew, a ball of energy started to form. They stared at it for a moment, transfixed and befuddled. The ball of energy suddenly expanded, throwing Princess Ebi and Inuyasha both in opposite directions back on the ground. Inuyasha was knocked out while Princess Ebi was badly wounded and burned from the light. Kikyou, being a miko, knew immediately what had happened. Inuyasha had used a spiritual power against Princess Ebi. This was indeed strange and shocking since it was impossible a youkai, especially a youkai child, to have spiritual power like human.

It did not take a long time for Princess Ebi to recover from her shock. At first, she just stared blankly at Inuyasha who was lying unconsciously on the ground. Then, the pain from her wounds brought her back to the reality. Her initial shock turned into a great rage. Inuyasha had humiliated her twice. She cannot let him walked away from her alive. The gem on her scepter glowed more intensely than before. Her aura became more powerful.

"STUPID BRAT! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! I DON'T CARE IF NARAKU NEEDS YOU IN HIS SHIKON JEWEL PLAN!" Princess Ebi yelled in her rage, raising her scepter with an intention to deliver the killing blow to Inuyasha.

In her rage, she completely forgot about Kikyou and Sesshoumaru. Kikyou did not waste this opportunity. She aimed and shot an arrow to the gem. It hit the target and shattered the gem into pieces. When the gem was shattered, Princess Ebi lost her power drastically. She was transfixed and befuddled since she did not expect that Kikyou can still fight in her condition. Sesshoumaru clearly saw this as an opportunity for a counterattack. With his youkai speed, he dashed toward Princess Ebi and swung Tenseiga directly at her. Princess Ebi realized it too late. The sword slashed her before she could dodge it.

Princess Ebi closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain that will erupt from this fatal wound. However, nothing happened. She did not feel pain. She did not feel any blood came out from her body. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Tenseiga did not inflict any wound at her. She was confused and Sesshoumaru was even more confused. Sesshoumaru could have sworn that he had slashed her with Tenseiga. He slashed her again and nothing happened. Sesshoumaru did not understand what had happened until something about Tenseiga clicked on his mind.

"It's the sword of healing. It won't cut anything except spirits, souls and anything made of soul."

"Oh, crap…," Sesshoumaru cursed silently, realizing the crucial fact and his mistake.

He had totally forgotten what Toutosai had told him about Tenseiga. Princess Ebi was a living being. She was not a spirit. It was natural for Tenseiga to be unable to cut her off. Sesshoumaru mentally slapped himself for making such stupid mistake at a crucial time like this. Princess Ebi seemed to notice this and smirked. Without any warning, she swung her scepter at Sesshoumaru's head. The gem maybe gone but she still has some power left to fight. The hit was so strong and hard that it threw him back, causing him to crash on Kikyou.

The situation was very hopeless and desperate. Kikyou and Sesshoumaru were badly injured. Even though they were still alive and aware of their surrounding, they can barely move their body. Princess Ebi, on the other hand, was still capable of fighting. The solid proof was the way she swung her scepter at Sesshoumaru's head. She can dispose them at anytime. Kikyou prayed silently in her heart for reinforcements to come to their rescue. Her fear grew when she saw Princess Ebi walked slowly to unconscious Inuyasha, building up her lightning power on her scepter.

"What are you going to do with Inuyasha?" Kikyou shouted worriedly.

"Killing him, of course. But don't worry. I'll kill you next," said Princess Ebi mockingly.

"You can't do that! Leave him alone!" Sesshoumaru shouted this time, trying desperately to move his injured body.

"I can and I will!" Princess Ebi yelled as she brought down her scepter to unleash her lightning attack on Inuyasha.

"INUYASHA!" Sesshoumaru screamed at the top of his lung as the scepter was brought down.

He couldn't bear to watch Inuyasha to be killed in front of him. At this point, Sesshoumaru wished he had never yelled at the children in the first place. If he had not yelled them, they would not run away and stumble upon Princess Ebi. They probably will be safe if he had been patience with them.

"AAARGHHHH!" a scream erupted.

Sesshoumaru was shocked when he heard the scream. The scream was not from Inuyasha. It was from Princess Ebi. He was even more shocked with what he saw. A sword had pierced through Princess Ebi's heart from her behind before she managed to attack Inuyasha. Princess Ebi turned her head slowly to see her attacker. She recognized him.

"Ban…..kot…..su…, what …. are… you….doing…?" Princess Ebi asked Bankotsu at her dying breath.

"Handling you properly like Naraku ordered me to," Bankotsu smirked as he saw Princess Ebi perished and turned into dust.


	14. Chapter 14: Unexpected Development

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 14: Unexpected Development

Kikyou and Sesshoumaru stared at the man in front of them, unable to understand what had just happened. The said man had long, braided, black hair. From Princess Ebi's face expression before she died, it seemed she knew this man. Was he a friend or a foe? Their question was answered when they saw a gem with spider mark on his armor. It looked similar to the gem on Princess Ebi's scepter. They immediately realized that the man in front of them was one of the Soul Stealer members. Now, they were very confused and worried. Confused with this man's action and worried about their safety.

Why would he want to kill his own comrade? More importantly, why did he save them? What he wanted to do with them? Kill or let them walked away just like that? Considering how ruthless he killed Princess Ebi, it was highly probable for him to kill them with his sword. Kikyou knew this man was a formidable opponent who cannot be taken lightly. With their bad wounds, it was impossible to fight and defeat him. It was a suicide. Obviously, Bankotsu saw confusion on their face.

"I did not do it to save you guys. I'm merely just following an order," Bankotsu said.

Kikyou who managed to find her voice, asked in a weak voice, "Who are you?"

Bankotsu just smirked and answered lazily, "Bankotsu. And as you have noticed, I'm a member of Soul Stealer."

Sesshoumaru clearly did not like Bankotsu's tone. He felt that Bankotsu was making fun at them. He tried to stand up but his legs did not have the strength to support him, causing him to only able to sit on the ground with Tenseiga in his hands. Sure, Tenseiga cannot cut anything. But, it was way better than unarmed. Bankotsu seemed to notice what Sesshoumaru intended to do.

"Don't try to do anything foolish. I can kill….." Bankotsu voice trailed off when something caught his attention. "Where did you get that sword?"

Bankotsu pointed at Tenseiga. With a single glance, he knew the sword in Sesshoumaru's hand was a rare and unique sword. Being a great swordsman, he could sense the sword had a special power. Bankotsu could not contain his agitation. He had finally found a sword that can be added into his collection. It was a pity that the sword was in the hand of a young boy. Bankotsu thought the reason why he joined Soul Stealer. It was because Naraku told him that he can find extremely rare swords by joining the organization.

Sesshoumaru was very surprised at Bankotsu's question. He eyed Bankotsu carefully and suspiciously. He did not know whether he should answer Bankotsu's question or not. It could be some traps set up by Bankotsu to lower his guard down. However, it was pretty obvious that Bankotsu had an interest on Tenseiga. The next thing that he said proved it.

"Hand me over that sword," Bankotsu demanded.

"Why should I?" Sesshoumaru retorted, unwilling to give in to Bankotsu's demand.

"Because I said so," Bankotsu said as a matter of fact.

"I don't want to."

Kikyou did not like where the conversation was heading to and tried to stop Sesshoumaru from provoking Bankotsu, "Sesshoumaru, don't be too hasty. He….."

However, Kikyou could not finish her words when she suddenly started coughing blood. That really caught Sesshoumaru's attention. From the blood that Kikyou coughed, it was reasonable to assume that she had internal injuries as well. Slowly and painfully, Sesshoumaru dragged himself to Kikyou, hoping that he could somehow do something about her cough. To Bankotsu, this was a perfect moment to finish off them.

"Well, then. I guess you need to die," Bankotsu said gleefully as he raised his sword.

But, Bankotsu did not have a chance to unleash his attack when out of nowhere an insect came to him, circling and buzzing at him. It was Naraku's insect and seemed to convey an order from Naraku to Bankotsu. Bankotsu had a frown look on his face when he heard the order. He did not want to retreat yet. Not when he had found something interesting. The insect seemed to notice Bankotsu's refusal and started to buzz even louder. It was driving Bankotsu into crazy. He wanted to slash the insect when he noticed that he was not surrounded by an insect but a swarm of insects, prepared to attack him at anytime.

"Okay….okay….. I got it," Bankotsu said grumpily as he shifted his attention to Sesshoumaru. "Hey, consider this is your lucky day. I'll come back to get that sword."

With that, Bankotsu raised his hand, creating a swirl of wind. When the wind was gone, Bankotsu and the insects were nowhere to be seen. Sesshoumaru stared dumbfounded for a moment. He was brought back to reality when he heard Kikyou coughed blood again. He leaned Kikyou against a wall to inspect her wounds. Her eyes were closed and her face was pale. She did not make any sound. However, Sesshoumaru knew from her shallow breath sound that she was in a great pain.

"Damn, she'll die if this keeps going on," Sesshoumaru muttered slowly.

"Then, why don't you help her?" said a voice.

Sesshoumaru turned around to see a smoke bomb exploded not far from him. His muscles tense up. He knew someone was there but the smoke had hid that person. What made it even worse was he did not know whether the person was an ally or an enemy. Sesshoumaru waited the smoke to clear away first. He cannot just attack and charged on randomly like that. However, waiting the smoke to clear away was like waiting for a thousand year. The smoke soon clear away revealing…. Toutosai.

Sesshoumaru's heart was almost stopped when he saw Toutosai. He clearly did not expect Toutosai to show up out of all many people. At first, he thought it would be some monks, exterminator, another miko or probably some other bad guys. Toutosai was sitting on top of three eyed buffalo. He had a hammer in his hand. Sesshoumaru glared Toutosai intensely. Toutosai had given him a lot of problem by giving him Tenseiga. He had to frantically search Toutosai to return the sword since his stepmother insisted that he should not keep the sword but found nothing. And now, Toutosai showed up of nowhere in front of him AFTER they were attacked. Such a great time to show up.

"Now….now… don't look at me like that. Do you want to help her or not?" Toutosai asked.

"How am I supposed to do that? She's badly wounded," Sesshoumaru barked.

"Now…now… don't be too angry. Calm down," Toutosai tried to calm down Sesshoumaru, "Use Tenseiga to heal her."

Sesshoumaru blinked before yelling in anger, "That sword is useless. It can't cut anything."

Toutosai didn't flinch at Sesshoumaru's yell. Instead, he just smiled and said, "That's true. But, I also said that Tenseiga is a sword of healing. You can use Tenseiga to heal the girl."

"And why should I believe in you?" Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes.

"Because I'm the one who forged it, remember?" Toutosai remarked.

"Then, what I need to do to save her?"

"But, there will be some side effects from using Tenseiga."

"Just tell me what should I do," Sesshoumaru roared.

"Simple. Just touch her with Tenseiga and sincerely ask Tenseiga to heal her. It won't work if you didn't mean it."

Sesshoumaru didn't like to be ordered around by anyone. He truly didn't believe that Tenseiga had such ability. But, it seemed it was the only way to save Kikyou. He needed to save Kikyou. It was not like he fell in love with her. It was just that he felt indebted to Kikyou for saving him and Inuyasha at the park from Tsubaki. Besides, it was his fault too for losing the children at this amusement park in the first place, causing them to get involved in this mess. Sesshoumaru touched Kikyou with Tenseiga and wished deeply in his heart.

"Please heal this girl, Tenseiga."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Tenseiga started to glow warmly. Kikyou's body too was starting to glow. Slowly but surely, her wounds started to heal and close. Sesshoumaru could not believe his eyes.

"So, this sword is useful after all," he thought.

When all the wounds were healed, Tenseiga stopped glowing. Kikyou was good as new one. There were no scratches and wounds on her body. She slowly opened her eyes.

"What had happened?" Kikyou asked hazily, placing her hand on her forehead.

She had a headache. She couldn't remember what had happened for a moment. Then, images started to pour into her mind. She immediately remembered what had happened. She looked at her wounds to found out that they had been healed. It surprised her greatly. How on earth she made a quick, perfect recovery from such bad wounds? She was a human and not a youkai. Even though she was a miko, it was still impossible for her to recover that fast. She looked at Sesshoumaru.

Perfectly convinced that Sesshoumaru had the answer, Kikyou asked, "How did I get heal so quickly?"

"I used Tenseiga on you," Sesshoumaru answered.

"Tenseiga?"

"It was a long story."

"Oh, that's right. Who is that old man? Where did he come from?" Kikyou asked with a puzzle tone, pointing her finger at Toutosai.

"That's Toutsai-san. As for your second question, I too want to find the answer from him right now," Sesshoumaru said annoyingly.

"Don't bother about it. I want to leave anyway," Toutosai waved his hand cheerfully.

"Oh, no. You don't," Sesshoumaru said, making his way to Toutosai. By now, his youkai blood had healed him enough to enable him to walk slowly.

Toutosai just smiled and said, "By the way, before I leave, I want to tell you something."

"What?" Sesshoumaru asked irritably. For some reason, his head felt dizzy.

"The side effects of using Tenseiga."

"What is it?" Sesshoumaru asked impatiently as his dizziness grew. He found it was hard for him to stand straight.

Kikyou noticed that Sesshoumaru was losing his balance and asked him in a concern tone, "Sesshoumaru, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sesshoumaru said, struggling to keep himself from falling on the ground while ignoring his dizziness.

For some reason, his head was getting dizzier and dizzier. He felt like he would collapse at anytime. And, Toutosai's annoying speech did not help him to feel any better. His attention shifted back to Toutosai when Toutosai proceeded with his explanation.

"Every time you use Tenseiga to heal people, it will use up your energy, depending on the wound. The greater the wound, the more energy need to be used," Toutosai reminded Sesshoumaru. With that, Toutosai threw a smoke bomb to cover his leave.

"Hey, wait a …."

Sesshoumaru could not finish his word because the dizziness in his head had reached to unbearable level. His vision started to blur. Without he realized, he collapsed on the ground.


	15. Chapter 15: Arising Tension

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 15: Arising Tension

Sesshoumaru had major headache when he woke up. He slowly opened his eyes. The light attacked his eyes abruptly, causing him to shield his eyes with his hand. He blinked for a moment to adjust his eyes with the light. He found that he was lying on a bed, surrounded by Kikyou, Izayoi and Inuyasha. For some reason, his headache did not want to go away. It felt like his head was going to explode. And, it didn't feel any better when he heard Inuyasha's shriek and nonstop questions.

"Sesshy, are you okay? Did you hurt anywhere? Do you need anything? Do you want me to get anything for you?" Inuyasha asked nonstop.

"Would you shut up? You're annoying," Sesshoumaru replied irritably, massaging his head in an attempt to reduce his headache.

Inuyasha clearly did not expect that kind of response from his brother, causing him to bark at Sesshoumaru, "I'm only worry about you. You passed out for the whole one day."

Sesshoumaru wanted to yell at Inuyasha for his immature antics but chose to stop when his eyes fell on Inuyasha's neck. There was a clear hand mark around Inuyasha's neck, a proof how strong Princess Ebi's grip. He stared at the mark, slightly disturbed when the mark reminded him what had happened at the amusement park, causing Inuyasha felt uncomfortable.

"What are you staring at?" Inuyasha asked loudly.

"Nothing," Sesshoumaru answered, trying to hide his uneasiness.

Izayoi placed her hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, trying to soothe him, "Don't be like that, Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru just woke up. You can't expect him to answer all of your questions at the same time."

Inuyasha thought for awhile before mumbling, "I'm sorry."

Sesshoumaru scanned the room. Tenseiga was beside him. He also found out he was not the only occupant in this room. There were another five beds in the room. Each bed had its own occupant which was Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kouga respectively. Obviously, the last empty bed would be Inuyasha's bed. It clicked in Sesshoumaru's head that he will be sharing room with the children. Something he would like to avoid. However, there was something more important that he wished to know.

"Inuyasha, did you remember what had happened at the park?" Sesshoumaru asked.

That question caught Kikyou and Izayoi's attention. Kikyou had briefly accounted what had happened at the park to Izayoi. But, they also wanted to know the real story from Inuyasha's own mouth. Besides, Kikyou too was curious on how Inuyasha was able to use spiritual power against Princess Ebi.

Inuyasha said hesitantly, "Well, when you yelled at us for ruining your hair, we got really scared. So, we ran away. Then, out of nowhere, that mean, scary woman showed up. She shot lightning from his scepter randomly. Before we knew, many people started to collapse on the ground. We ran away but that woman chased after us. She shot a blast of lightning at us. It missed us an inch. But, Sango, Miroku and Kouga were knocked out from the blast. And then…"

Inuyasha stopped for a moment. He subconsciously touched his neck.

"….that woman suddenly strangled me. I tried to free myself but she won't let me go. And then, you and Kikyou-neesan came. I was very relieved when you came. But then, you got beaten up by her. I was so scared when she attacked you. After that, every thing turned into black."

At this point, Inuyasha looked like as if he was about to cry. Izayoi hugged Inuyasha to comfort him.

"You don't remember anything else? Like creating a ball of spiritual energy?" Kikyou inquired further.

"A ball of…what?" Inuyasha asked with puzzled, scratching his head.

"You don't remember it?" Sesshoumaru pressed the question on Inuyasha.

"Remember what?" Inuyasha crossed his arms.

"Nevermind," Sesshoumaru said, realizing Inuyasha didn't have any clue on what had happened.

"Remember about what?" Inuyasha pressed, unwilling to let the matter slide away.

"So, what happened after I passed out?" Sesshoumaru directed a question to Kikyou, ignoring Inuyasha's question.

"Hey, don't just ignore me!" Inuyasha pouted.

"Inuyasha, don't be like this. Sesshoumaru needs some rest," Izayoi told Inuyasha.

"After you collapse, the help came after a short while. We got all injured victims to a nearby hospital. Luckily, not many of them suffered serious injuries. Most were treated as outside patients. However, since the hospital was too crowded with patients, the hospital did not have a choice except to let you guys shared the room," Kikyou explained.

"So, I need to share the room with them."

"Well, I thought after what had happened, you might want to keep Inuyasha close to you to keep an eye on him. And since Inuyasha might feel lonely, I thought it might be good for Kagome and others to stay in the same room so he would have friends at similar age to play with. Your mother agreed with my suggestion too."

"Great, more brats to be babysat," Sesshoumaru said sarcastically.

"Hey, what you mean by that?" Inuyasha demanded an answer which was ignored again.

Kikyou just chuckled, "Don't be too dramatic, Sesshoumaru. It's not that really bad. This hospital is one of the best hospitals in this city. Plus, I have erected a strong barrier and tightened the security around the hospital ground just in cases we are underattacked."

"Hey, you still don't answer my question," Inuyasha said annoyingly.

"Inuyasha, give it a rest. Both of you need a good rest after what had happened. Go to your bed now. It's your bed time now," Izayoi said gently as Inuyasha yawned.

Inuyasha just nodded slowly and obeyed his mother. He slowly climbed to his bed and wished her mother and brother a good night before he closed his eyes to sleep. It didn't take a long time for Inuyasha to fall into sleep. Izayoi just giggled at this sight.

But, it soon faded away as she turned to Sesshoumaru and Kikyou to asked question in a serious tone, "So, what did you mean by Inuyasha created 'a ball of spiritual energy'?"

Kikyou told everything what had happened at the park in detail to Izayoi. How they fought Princess Ebi. How Inuyasha suddenly created a weird ball of spiritual energy that wounded badly Princess Ebi. How she rambled on about Inuyasha and Shikon Jewel. How Bankotsu killed Princess Ebi. And lastly, how Sesshoumaru used Tenseiga to save Kikyou. Izayoi kept silent for a moment. There were too many information that needed to be processed.

"I found an ancient scroll written in ancient language that talked about Shikon Jewel. Maybe we can found out how Inuyasha is connected to Shikon Jewel," Kikyou said hopefully.

"What did you found out?" Sesshoumaru asked eagerly.

"Not much. I still haven't fully translated the scroll yet. I just manage to translate some. The scroll said Shikon Jewel is supposedly a strong, powerful jewel that can grant any wish. The jewel is so strong and powerful that anyone one who has it can rule the world in a blink of eyes," Kikyou explained.

"I can see why Naraku wants it," Izayoi spoke.

"Then, how it is related to Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru asked impatiently.

"That is something we need to find out. I suspect it is somehow related to the soul stolen by Naraku too. But, it's not that easy to translate a long ancient scroll all by yourself," Kikyou said.

"Then, why don't I help you? I knew ancient language. I can help you out," Izayoi offered her help.

"Thank you very much. I really appreciate it," Kikyou thanked Izayoi.

"Then, what should I do?" Sesshoumaru asked, unwilling to be left out from the plan.

"Well, you're going to look after Inuyasha. Make sure Naraku didn't catch or hurt him," Kikyou said.

"Okay," Sesshoumaru promised.

However, it was easier said than done. The last three days in hospital had made Sesshoumaru edgy and grumpy. The kids were driving him crazy with their noise, shout and bickering especially between Kouga and Inuyasha. For some unknown reason, they seemed can't get along with each other. They always bickered for various stupid reasons like who got to eat extra yogurt, who got to choose the game to be played and who got to read the story book. And these stupid bickers always ended with a fight between them where they will kick and punch each other.

The kids were not the only thing that made Sesshoumaru edgy and grumpy. There was still no new news from Kikyou about the ancient scroll. She kept saying the translation would be finished soon and she will tell him when it was finished. Sesshoumaru couldn't say any more about it. It was not like he knew ancient language and can help Kikyou in translating the scroll like Izayoi. Not to mention, he was not very helpful in the battle. The only thing that he can do was watching over the kids and this made him became more frustrated at himself for not being any help. It was slowly building up and eating him away.

Sesshoumaru's frustration reached the peak when Kouga and Inuyasha started to fight again. It all started when the children decided to play hide and seek in the hospital's garden. So, as their babysitter, Sesshoumaru joined them to watch their game at the side line. Inuyasha became the seeker while the other children hid themselves. The game ran smoothly until Kouga accused Inuyasha was cheating in the game. Inuyasha, of course, didn't like to be accused like that.

"I did not cheat in the game," Inuyasha yelled angrily.

"Yes, you are. You were peeking when we were hiding," Kouga accused loudly.

"I did not. I didn't peek at all," Inuyasha defended himself.

"I don't think he cheated, Kouga. We warped and closed his eyes with clothes," Miroku stated clamly.

"Yeah, I checked it myself," Sango added.

"Don't be so grumpy just because he found you first," Kagome backed up.

"I'm not grumpy and he's a cheater," Kouga yelled back, feeling defeated and betrayed since his friends especially Kagome backed up Inuyasha.

He then did something unexpected and unthinkable. He pushed Inuyasha hard on the ground. Inuyasha didn't let Kouga got away so easily. Before Sesshoumaru could stop Inuyasha, Inuyasha pushed back Kouga. The push was so hard that Kouga's head hit a tree and bleed. Kouga wiped away the blood dripped on his head with his hand. He looked at his hand.

Suddenly, he burst into anger, "Fine. If you want to be his friends that much, go ahead. I don't care."

With that, he ran away before anyone could say anything. Everyone was so shocked. How could a simple hide and seek game turned into something like this? They were thorn apart on what they should do. Should they ran after Kouga and comfort him or should they just leave him alone for a moment? Kagome, Sango and Miroku decided to look for Kouga, leaving behind Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.

After they had gone, Sesshoumaru spoke coldly to Inuyasha, "Apologize to Kouga."

"Why….why should I? I didn't do anything," Inuyasha said.

"You hurt him," Sesshoumaru said it in as a matter of fact tone.

"I didn't mean to. Besides, he's the one who started it first," Inuyasha retorted.

"I don't care. Apologize to him now," Sesshoumaru replied, slightly angered and impatient.

"It's NOT my fault. Don't you get it, IDIOT," Inuyasha said loudly.

At this point, Sesshoumaru lost his patient. He was angry to be called an idiot by Inuyasha. In his anger, he slapped Inuyasha's face hard. Inuyasha fell on the ground from the impact. Inuyasha was shocked. He slowly touched his cheek. It was painful. Tears started to form in his golden eyes. Sesshoumaru couldn't think a word to comfort Inuyasha.

Before he could say anything, Inuyasha yelled angrily in his sob, "I HATE YOU."

With that, he ran away as fast as he can from his brother. Sesshoumaru was stunned. He just let Inuyasha ran away until he disappeared from his sight. What had he done? He didn't mean to hurt Inuyasha. How could he let his anger get the better of him? But, what happened had happened. He can't change it.

Inuyasha ran and ran without realizing that he had leave the hospital's ground. He was still crying. He can't believe that Sesshoumaru had hit him. He was so deep in his thought that he didn't realize he had bumped into a man. He fell on the ground from the impact but the man didn't budge an inch. The man just smiled at Inuyasha. For some reason, Inuyasha didn't like the man's smile. Inuyasha couldn't put his finger on it but there was something creepy behind his smile. The man stretched his hand to help Inuyasha stood up, still maintaining his creepy smile.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I – Inuyasha," Inuyasha said hesitantly in his sob, "What's your name?"

"Naraku."


	16. Chapter 16: Undisclosed Feeling

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 16: Undisclosed Feeling

Kouga ran away from the garden as fast as his legs can take him, leaving behind his shocked friends. He didn't care what they thought about his abrupt leaving and shouting. He just wanted to get away from there. He was pretty sure that they will stay behind with Inuyasha without even bothering to find him. After all, they preferred Inuyasha over him. Tears started to form on his eyes at this thought. He ran and ran until he accidentally crashed into someone. It was Kikyou. Both of them fell on the ground.

"I – I'm sorry," Kouga apologized, rubbing his head.

"It's okay." Kikyou stretched her hand to help out Kouga until she noticed tears in Kouga's eyes as well as blood on his head. "Why are you crying? Why are you bleeding? Did something happen?"

"No – nothing happened," Kouga tried to avoid the question.

Kikyou grasped Kouga's chin, gently wiping out the blood on his head with her handkerchief and said, "You can tell me about it. I won't get angry. But first, let's get your wound tended."

Kouga nodded slowly without arguing. They sat down on a nearby bench. Kikyou brought out a bottle of mineral water to clean her bloody handkerchief. She then put some antiseptic on it. Kouga winced silently as Kikyou applied it on his wound. Luckily, the wound was not deep. He just needed some plaster on it. After that, Kouga hesitantly told Kikyou every thing. How he played hide and seek with his friends. How he got into fight with Inuyasha and everyone took Inuyasha's side. Lastly, how he yelled at his friends and ran away from them. Kikyou just listened attentively to the end. She asked her question after Kouga finished his tale.

"How you were so sure that Inuyasha cheated in the game?" Kikyou asked.

"Well, he found me in less than five minutes. He can't found me that fast if he closed his eyes like he said," Kouga answered determinedly.

"Maybe he used his heightened senses. He is a dog youkai after all and dog youkai has sensitive nose and ears," Kikyou reasoned.

Kouga pondered for a moment. He hadn't thought about that at all. What Kikyou said maybe true. Youkai had better senses than human. Besides, there was no rule that said you can't use your nose and ear in hide and seek game. Then, that meant he had just wrongly accused Inuyasha. However, Kouga did not want to admit it. He still thought Inuyasha was at fault…..probably.

"Well…that didn't mean he can make fun out of me," Kouga argued.

"Make fun of you? How?" Kikyou raised his eyebrows.

"He purposely found me first to show everyone that I'm not good in hiding. He could found other people first," Kouga crossed his arms.

"Why would he want to do something like that?" Kikyou questioned, amused at Kouga's childish answer.

"…..because….he wants to take away my friends…" Kouga was unsure if it was truly the reason why he disliked Inuyasha.

"Are you sure about it?" Kikyou asked carefully.

"Of course I'm sure. He always tries to outperform me like getting better mark than me, beating me in many games and get praised by teachers. Not only that, he tries to make me an outcast. He sits many times next to Kagome, gets to share ice cream with her and pairs up with her in many things. Not only that, she, Miroku and Sango always back him up in every thing and agree with every suggestion that he makes," Kouga burst into anger.

It didn't take a rocket scientist's brain to figure out that Kouga was jealous with Inuyasha. Kikyou knew this immediately. Kouga felt insecure with Inuyasha's presence. He thought Inuyasha tried to steal away his friends.

"Ever since he showed up, we are not best friends like we used to. They listen to him more than to me. I don't like this. I want every thing back to normal like it used to be," Kouga continued.

"Kouga, are you sure you're not just jealous at Inuyasha? As far as I concern, Kagome and others always treat you like their best friend," Kikyou said calmly.

"Me? Jealous at Inuyasha? That's ridiculous," Kouga denied loudly.

"Well then, when was the last time they left you behind when you were in trouble? When was the last time they didn't offer their help? When was the last time they didn't want to play with you? As for Inuyasha, are you really sure that he wants to take away your friends? Has he ever started a fight first with you? Has he ever called you names in front of your friends?" Kikyou asked patiently.

Kouga wanted to argue back but he couldn't figure out anything as a counter argument. He thought deeply. As far as he concerned, they including Inuyasha never left him behind like when he tripped over a rock while running from the mad woman (a.k.a Princess Ebi) at the amusement park. They did not leave him to be killed by that woman. Instead, they came back to help him out even though they can use the opportunity to run ahead and hide. In fact, if it wasn't because they helped him, that woman wouldn't be able to catch them up. They won't get wounded and ended up in hospital like this.

Even so, they didn't blame him for what had happened and still continued to be his friends. They still wanted to play with him. In fact, he was surprised that they were not angry at him especially Inuyasha. His stupid antics over some ice cream had nearly cost Inuyasha his life. He almost got strangled to death. And yet, Inuyasha didn't yell at him and even asked him about his injuries which he replied rudely. This realization leaded to another deep thought. Has Inuyasha ever started a fight first with him? Has Inuyasha ever called him names in front of his friends?

The only answer that he could think for these questions were no. No, Inuyasha never started the fight first. It was always him. And no, Inuyasha never called him names in front of his friends. Like always, he was the one who did it first. Inuyasha did try to be nice and friendly to him. But, Kouga didn't accept it well and tried to bully him. It was no wonder why Kagome and the others back Inuyasha up. It was because Kouga's action was wrong. Inuyasha did not deserve to be treated like that. Kouga knew it now. But, was it too late for him to make amend?

"You know they all care about you. They want to be your friends." Kikyou stopped Kouga's train of thought.

"Well, they won't now. I yelled at them," Kouga answered sadly.

"Then, why are they searching for you?" Kikyou asked, pointing at Kagome, Miroku and Sango who were running toward them.

Kouga was shocked to see them standing in front of him, panting for air. He thought they won't come to search for him. He thought they didn't want to be his friends anymore. Kikyou just smiled at Kouga who looked very confused but tried to hide it.

Panting, Sango asked, "Why did you run away?"

"Yeah, we didn't mean to hurt your feeling," Miroku added.

"How was your head?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"Why did you even care? I thought you care about Inuyasha more than me." Kouga crossed his arms.

"Kouga, don't be silly. You are our friend. Of course we care about you like we care for Inuyasha. If not, we won't be standing in front of you, worrying about your injuries," Kagome said.

"It's just that you sometimes cross the line like calling names on Inuyasha and pulling his ears hard until they bleed. It hurts him you know," Sango added.

Kouga winced at hearing this. "It's – it's not like I mean it."

"We know. But, it still hurt him," Miroku said.

"Then – then, what you want me to do? Like I said it's not like I mean it," Kouga asked unsurely, feeling guilty about what he did to Inuyasha.

"Apologize to him then," said a voice.

Everyone turned to the direction of the voice. It was Sesshoumaru. He was alone without Inuyasha. He decided that it was better for him to leave Inuyasha alone for now and went to look for the children. It was probably the best for them. They both needed some time to cool down and think after the incident. Besides, Sesshoumaru too didn't know what to do and say to Inuyasha. He was not the type of person who knew how to comfort people. Instead of making amend with Inuyasha, it might turn into something worse.

"Yeah, like he would forgive me," Kouga said slowly.

"I'm sure Inuyasha will forgive you," Kikyou spoke gently.

"Yeah. If you want, we'll go with you," Kagome suggested.

"By the way, where is Inuyasha?" Kikyou asked, looking around to find Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru flinched from Kikyou's question. Kikyou looked at him with confused eyes, waiting for his answer. Sesshoumaru couldn't answer the question. He can't just tell everyone that he had accidently lost his temper and hit Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru sighed and answered hesitantly, "I ….don't know. We…are kind of having a fight. So, he ran away to some place."

Kikyou wanted to asked more questions. However, their conversation was interrupted by a loud siren and scream from panicked people. They immediately stayed alert. The siren alerted them that they were attacked by enemy. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant snake shikigami showed up. Tsubaki was standing on top of his head, smiling evilly at them. Without any warning, the snake blasted a ball of flame at them. That really taken them especially Kikyou by surprised. Luckily, they managed to dodge the attack.

Kikyou couldn't believe his eyes. How Tsubaki could be strong like this? She never knew Tsubaki was capable of creating a giant snake shikigami that can throw flame ball at them like this. Sure, she had seen many times Tsubaki's snake shikigami. But, they were never as powerful as this one. It was very strange. A shikigami's power depended on its user's power. The stronger the user, the stronger the shikigami. And she could swear that Tsubaki was not powerful enough to create this giant shikigami. Tsubaki must have some tricks in her sleeves.

Then, Kikyou saw a brightly glowed gem on Tsubaki's necklace. It was similar gem to Princess Ebi's. It suddenly hit her mind. The gem must be the thing that supplied additional power to Tsubaki. If she could break the gem, Tsubaki would lose all her power like Princess Ebi. But, there was one problem. She didn't have her arrow and bow right now. Kikyou mentally slapped herself for her carelessness. Sesshoumaru too didn't have his Tenseiga with him. So, practically, they were defenseless against Tsubaki.

Tsubaki noticed this and taunted them, "What's this? Don't you guys know how to fight back?"

With that, she ordered her snake shikigami to launch a series of flame balls. Kikyou, Sesshoumaru and the children scattered into different directions to avoid the random flame balls. At a first glance, they looked like they were playing a dodge ball game. Dodging and avoiding desperately. But, the thing that they dodged and avoided desperately was not some ordinary ball. It was some flame ball that can get them killed or fatally wounded should it hit them. Tsubaki looked at them gleefully.

However, her glee did not last long. Someone shot an arrow at Tsubaki which she dodged it merely an inch. It was not Kikyou. It was Izayoi. Sesshoumaru could not believe his eyes. Well, he had several valid reasons. Probably because Izayoi just shot a strong, spiritual arrow at Tsubaki and almost hit her. Or, probably because Izayoi carried a full bag of weapons on her back. There were talisman papers, boomerang, staff and many more. Not to mention, she had several swords including Tenseiga on her hip. For a moment, Sesshoumaru thought his stepmother had just returned from a military camp.

Without any delay, she dropped the bag on the ground. She tossed arrows and bow to Kikyou while Tenseiga and some other sword to Sesshoumaru. Both of them caught their weapons and got ready to fight. Sesshoumaru wanted to ask many questions to his stepmother like where the hell did you found these weapons or when on earth did you learn how to shoot like that. But, he knew it would be rude of him to asked questions like that to Izayoi. So, he just stared at Izayoi confusedly.

"Don't stare at me like that, Sesshoumaru. Your father is not the only one who has his own personal collections," Izayoi chuckled at Sesshoumaru's expression. She then asked seriously, "Where's Inuyasha?", looking around for Inuyasha.

"I don't know," Sesshoumaru said slowly.

"Oh, no. We need to find him quickly," Izayoi said in a concern and horrified tone. "Who knows what they will do to him if they capture him."

"What you mean?" Sesshoumaru asked worriedly.

"I'll tell you every thing later. Just go and find him now," Izayoi ordered urgently.

Seeing seriousness and urgency in his stepmother's voice, Sesshoumaru did not try to argue with her. It must be very serious and important if Izayoi acted like that. After all, she never joked around in serious matter. Sesshoumaru was about to leave and find Inuyasha when he was stopped abruptly by…. Bankotsu.


	17. Chapter 17: A Decoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 17: A Decoy

"This is irritating," Tsubaki thought.

Initially, she planned to ambush Kikyou from behind, take her by surprise and rip her apart beyond recognizable. But, no, someone just had to interfere. They didn't want to make her job easy.

"What a bothersome. That woman just needed to appear out of nowhere to help Kikyou." Tsubaki bit her lips. "Like it will make a different. I'll win against them. Victory will be mine. I'm more powerful than in our last encounter. Then, after the jewel is created, I'll walk away from Naraku."

Lately, Tsubaki was not very thrilled to follow Naraku's order especially what had happened to Princess Ebi. She didn't like how Naraku betrayed Princess Ebi. Who would be happy to know that you could be stabbed from behind at any time? The thought that she maybe disposed off like Princess Ebi made her shivered in fear. She did not want to end her life like this. Her fear increased when Naraku announced that his plan was at the final stage. All they needed to do was to capture that child and after a supposedly simple ritual, the jewel will be born. This meant the likelihood that Naraku would betray her will increase.

Tsubaki shoved away the thought. This was not the time to be in deep thinking. She had two opponents in front of her that needed to be deal with. They were giving her a hard time. They put out a good fight especially the woman who showed up out of nowhere. She didn't look like a miko but she certainly fought like one. Her spiritual power maybe almost at the same level as Kikyou. This was certainly no ordinary woman. Tsubaki knew she cannot let her guard down or it would cost her own life.

Kikyou was very impressed with Izayoi's skills. Who would have thought a mother of two children was a great archer and can fight like this. But then again, that wasn't very a surprise. She used to be a miko after all. Izayoi shot two arrows in a row at the snake shikigami. They inflicted damage on the snake but not enough to kill it. Tsubaki just laughed at the useless attacks. Apparently, she found it was amusing to see their futile struggling. Izayoi and Kikyou knew they needed to come out with a new plan fast.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, two objects flew and strike both of snake's eyes. They were an arrow and a boomerang. Izayoi and Kikyou were shocked. They were sure that they did not shoot any arrow or throw a boomerang just now. Then, who did it? Their question was answered when they heard two voices shouting encouragement at the top of their lung to them.

"Come on, Sis. You can beat her," Kagome shouted.

Followed by Sango's shout, "Yeah, you can do it."

Apparently, these two kids had rummaged Izayoi's bag and found themselves a weapon. Kagome chose bow and arrow like her sister while Sango chose the boomerang. Luckily, both of them had been trained on how to use the weapon by their parents even though they cannot fully master and use it effectively. The snake hissed in pain. It shook its head violently, causing Tsubaki unable to stand straight properly. Tsubaki grabbed desperately at the snake's horn to avoid from falling from its head.

She knew it would be a fatal wound if she let herself fall. She mentally cursed herself for choosing to stand on top of the snake's head. She maybe a dark miko but she still a human. As a human, falling from such a high place can lead to her death. Human did not possess such strong body that can withstand every serious wound like youkai. Their body can be broken easily like a doll. Tsubaki looked at the ground from above. She knew she won't get away with a scratch should she lost her grip on the snake's horn.

Kikyou saw this as an opportunity for a counter attack. Tsubaki was too busy keeping herself from falling from the snake's head. Without a delay, Kikyou grabbed her bow and prepared her arrow, aiming properly at the gem on Tsubaki's necklace. Kikyou knew Tsubaki's power came from the gem. If she can shatter the gem, Tsubaki will be vulnerable to their attack and they will be able to defeat her. She only had one opportunity. It was either to succeed or die in trying. With that thought, she shot her arrow at her target. It hit perfectly and shattered the gem.

"No!" Tsubaki yelled with horrified.

Tsubaki could feel her power started to disappear rapidly. She knew it was because she had lost her gem. This was not good. She started to lose control over her snake shikigami. Tsubaki can no longer maintain its existence without the help of the gem. The snake wiggled violently before suddenly exploded, throwing Tsubaki on the ground from such a high place. The fall created a huge dent on the ground and caused debris to fly around. Once the debris disappeared, Kikyou approached the dent slowly and cautiously.

There, in front of her, Tsubaki was lying on the dent. Tsubaki's body was soaked with her blood. Her legs and arms were twisted in a weird angle. Her eyes were wide opened in horror. She didn't make any sound or movements. Kikyou approached and kneeled besides her. She braced herself to check Tsubaki's pulse and heartbeat. There were none. Tsubaki was dead, killed from the fall. Slowly, Kikyou closed Tsubaki's wide opened eyes with her hand. She shook her head to Izayoi, giving a signal that Tsubaki had died. Izayoi just nodded as an acknowledgement.

Suddenly, they heard an angry scream. It came from Sesshoumaru's direction. However, the scream was not belonged to Sesshoumaru, Kouga or Miroku. It belonged to an unknown man. Izayoi looked very worried. Kikyou understood the meaning of her look. Without any delay, Kikyou, Izayoi, Kagome and Sango quickly went to the direction where the scream came from.

At the same time as the fight with Tsubaki occurred…

Things were not looking good for Sesshoumaru. He had difficult time in fighting Bankotsu alone. He slashed, charged and cut but none of his attacks delivered a fatal blow to Bankotsu. It was frustrating. He needed to find Inuyasha and yet he stuck at here to fight Bankotsu. Sesshoumaru knew very well that Bankotsu's strength was not real. Bankotsu just borrowed power from the gem to become strong like Princess Ebi. He did not have any real strength. If the gem was destroyed, he can't last long. Sesshoumaru just needed to find a way to destroy the gem.

Unfortunately, Bankotsu did not make it easy for Sesshoumaru. He launched a consecutive series of attacks at Sesshoumaru, slowly pushing him back. Sesshoumaru did not have much choice except blocking and dodging the attacks. He could not find any opportunity to strike back. He was in dire situation when Bankotsu knocked his sword from his hand. Bankotsu smirked, preparing to deliver the final blow. Sesshoumaru braced himself for the final attack. However, it never came. Instead he heard Bankotsu's yell of anger.

Surprisingly, Sesshoumaru found a charm paper flew and stick onto Bankotsu's forehead, sending electric shock. It was Miroku's doing. In his hand, there were many charm paper, ready to be used at anytime. Bankotsu clearly did not anticipate it since he was busy cursing whoever dared to do such thing. In amidst of confusion, Kouga quickly knocked Bankotsu's sword from his hand using a staff. Apparently, Kagome and Sango were not the only one who rummaged Izayoi's bag. Both Miroku and Kouga too thought they should do something to help Sesshoumaru.

However, Kouga made a mistake. He stayed too close to Bankotsu. Bankotsu maybe weaponless but he still possessed a great strength. With a strong, hard punch, he sent Kouga flew a few feet on the ground. Kouga winced in pain. Miroku, without any hesitation, sent another charm paper to Bankotsu. This time, instead of sticking on Bankotsu's forehead, it covered his eyes, sending another jolt of electricity. The paper caused Bankotsu unable to see.

This was an opportunity for Sesshoumaru. He picked up his sword on the ground and charged on Bankotsu. By the time Bankotsu removed the charm paper from his eyes, he could not dodge Sesshoumaru's charge. Sesshoumaru thrust his sword onto the gem, shattering it and piercing through Bankotsu's heart in the process. Blood sprayed from Bankotsu's body onto Sesshoumaru's body. No scream came out from Bankotsu. However, his face expression was mixed with shock, pain and agony.

For a moment, there was a deadly silence. It was like time had stopped moving. Then, slowly, Bankotsu's legs were unable to support his body. He dropped on his knees and fell on the ground lifeless. Sesshoumaru was breathing heavily. His hands were shaking. It was true that he had hurt and injured some people during his sword practice. But, he never killed anyone before. He stood there like an idiot until he heard footsteps coming toward them. They were Kikyou, Izayoi, Sango and Kagome.

"Is everyone okay?" Kikyou asked worriedly as she approached Sesshoumaru.

Kikyou did not need anyone to answer her question. The sight of Bankotsu's dead body had answered her question. She looked at Sesshoumaru. He looked shaky and pale. Izayoi seemed to notice it too.

"Are you okay?" Izayoi asked, placing her hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sesshoumaru answered, trying to regain his composure. "Let's find Inuyasha quickly."

Izayoi nodded. With that, they quickly went to find Inuyasha. It was easy for Sesshoumaru to pick up Inuyasha's scent with the help of his sensitive nose. He lead them the way. However, something bothered him greatly. Inuyasha's scent was reek with panic and fear.

"Please be okay, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru prayed silently and hopefully.

Unfortunately, Inuyasha was not okay at all right now. He had his own valid reasons. Everyone will be panic and scared if there was a creepy man in front of them who kept smiling creepily without saying much word. Not to mention, this weird man brought along a large swarm of poisonous insects with him that looked like ready to sting anything to death. Inuyasha could tell that he should not get involved with this guy. Naraku took a few steps forward, still smiling creepily. Inuyasha flinched, taking a few steps backward.

"I'm sorry. I need to find my mom now," Inuyasha tried to make an excuse to get away from Naraku.

It was a very lame excuse, said in a very unconvincing way. No one will convince with Inuyasha's excuse. In fact, Naraku saw it through easily. He can see Inuyasha's uneasiness toward him.

"Are you really sure about it? Your mom probably is busy right now," Naraku narrowed his eyes.

"Ye – yeah, it's okay. Bye," Inuyasha said nervously, turning around to leave.

As Inuyasha was about to leave, Naraku snapped his fingers. The insects suddenly blocked Inuyasha's path. They gave out a loud buzz. It was as if they were saying if you dare to leave this place, we'll sting you to death to Inuyasha. Inuyasha gulped as the insects advanced toward him slowly. He started to search frantically for any other escape routes. However, there were none. Inuyasha practically had been surrounded without anywhere to escape. At this point, Inuyasha was very scared. He was alone by himself. He wished someone would come to rescue him from this guy and his insects like... his big brother.

Inuyasha flinched at this thought. The memory of his fight with Sesshoumaru came into his mind. He had told Sesshoumaru that he hated him. Sesshoumaru will never come to rescue him. Perhaps, Sesshoumaru didn't even realize he was missing at all. Inuyasha touched and rubbed his cheek. He could still feel the pain from Sesshoumaru's slap. He suddenly regretted his action. He shouldn't talk like that to Sesshoumaru. He shouldn't let anger controlled him. If he told nicely, perhaps thing won't turn out to be like this.

The sound made by the insects stopped Inuyasha's train of thought. They came closer and closer. Inuyasha started to back away slowly until he bumped into Naraku's legs. He was too focused and worried about the insects that he didn't realize Naraku had place a necklace around his neck. The necklace was the same necklace that Naraku had casted spell on it. Inuyasha only realized it when the crystal on the necklace started to glow brightly. At first, it was pure white but starting to turn into light pink. Then, the crystal's glow disappeared slowly.

For some reason, Inuyasha felt weak. It was as if his energy had been sucked away. His vision started to blur and his head felt dizzy. He found that it was hard for him to stand properly. His legs soon were unable to support him, causing him to fall on the ground. Not only that, something strange happened to Inuyasha. His body started to glow and transform into human form. His dog ears were replaced with human ears. His claws and fangs disappeared. His silver hair turned into black. Inuyasha didn't understand what had happened. This was the first time he realized his human transformation.

Inuyasha started to breathe heavily. His head hurt. He fought as hard as he can to stay conscious. He did not know what truly had happened. But, he can bet that it had something to do with Naraku and his necklace. Inuyasha tried to command his body to get up and run away as far as possible. However, it was futile. Naraku just smirked at Inuyasha. He carefully picked up Inuyasha and carried him in his arms. He was about to leave with Inuyasha when a very loud scream erupted from a distant.

"INUYASHA!"

p.s. Sorry for the long update. I think it's been almost a month since the last time I updated. There are a lot of commitments. But, I still want to finish my fanfiction. So, just bear with the late update.


	18. Chapter 18: The Truth Behind A Jewel

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 18: The Truth Behind A Jewel

"INUYASHA!"

Inuyasha could distantly hear a scream calling his name. He didn't know who called him. However, he could tell from the scream that whoever screamed his name was desperate and worried about him. Inuyasha was a bit relieved. Someone had finally come to rescue him from this guy's arm. Inuyasha secretly wished that it was Sesshoumaru. But, he knew it was too good to be true. Not after the fight they had. Inuyasha wished he could apologize to Sesshoumaru for what he had done.

He could hear faintly the sound of footsteps running toward him. It was not from one person but many people. They came nearer and nearer until he saw a group of figures standing few feet from him. They looked familiar to him. However, he could not identify them. His mind was too hazy and his eyelids were so heavy, begging him to close them and fell into a deep sleep. He tried to stay conscious as long as he can. But, it was proved to be hard. Inuyasha knew he can't stay awake any longer.

With a great effort, he said in a weak, faint voice, "Sesshy, help me….."

Inuyasha didn't know why he said like that. He didn't even know for certain whether Sesshoumaru was one of the figures. It just kind of slipped from his mouth. He wasn't even sure if his weak voice was heard. He just hoped his voice somehow reached to Sesshoumaru or anyone. Suddenly, the crystal glowed again, draining Inuyasha's energy away. He becomes weaker and weaker until he was unable to hold his consciousness. With that, he passed out.

Fortunately, for him, someone did hear his faint voice. Sesshoumaru could hear him with his keen sense of hearing. It made him very worried especially when he saw Inuyasha in human form. The last time Inuyasha turned into a full human, he was an inch from death from wound inflicted by Tsubaki's purification arrow. Is Inuyasha okay? Did Naraku do something to him? Inuyasha wasn't hurt, was he? He's not dying, right? These thoughts kept pouring into Sesshoumaru's mind, making him extremely worried. However, seeing the movement of Inuyasha's chest made him a little bit relieved. At least, he knew Inuyasha was alive.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru called out to Inuyasha, trying to get a response from Inuyasha.

However, there was no response. Nothing at all. Inuyasha remained limp in Naraku's arms. Sesshoumaru was not the only one who was worried. Everyone in the group was worried too especially Inuyasha's friends. At first, they didn't recognize the kid in Naraku's arms. He was wearing Inuyasha's clothes but his appearance was totally different than Inuyasha that they knew. He didn't have claws, fangs, silver hair and puppy ears like Inuyasha. It puzzled them when Sesshoumaru called the kid as Inuyasha. It can't be helped. This was the first time they saw Inuyasha's human form.

For a moment, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kouga thought Sesshoumaru was joking around. However, they knew Sesshoumaru wasn't a person to joke around in serious situation and the situation in front of them was indeed serious. The appearance of Naraku and his poisonous insects was enough to be considered as serious situation. The seriousness in Kikyou and Izayoi's face was another further proof. They came into a conclusion that the kid must be Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, wake up. Say something," Sesshoumaru called out again, receiving no response again.

Naraku just smirked at Sesshoumaru's attempt and taunted him, "It seems Inuyasha can't hear you at all right now."

Naraku's taunt made Sesshoumaru very angry. He tried to hold his anger back. If he followed his heart, he would have attacked Naraku by now. However, Naraku had Inuyasha. He who was known to be merciless to anyone could do anything to Inuyasha. Who can guarantee that he would not harm Inuyasha?

"What did you do to Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru shouted, drawing his sword.

"I didn't do anything to him," Naraku answered innocently.

"Don't play dumb. We know what you want to do with Inuyasha. If you're smart enough, release him now. Or else….," Kikyou said in threatening tone with arrow and bow ready in her hand.

However, Naraku found it amusing rather than threatening. "I don't understand what you said. I didn't harm or intend to harm him in anyway. I just want to spend some quality time together. So, there is no reason for me to release him."

"You can't trick me. You want to sacrifice Inuyasha to create Shikon Jewel, right?" Kikyou accused Naraku.

Kikyou's revelation shocked everyone. What did she mean by sacrifice? Is Naraku going to kill Inuyasha? These thought seemed to be in everyone's mind. Naraku didn't expect Kikyou to know this valuable piece of information. He knew Kikyou would know it eventually but this was too soon than he expected. His demeanor started to change. He no longer maintained his innocent like behavior.

"It seems you figure out my true motive, miko. Very impressive. I guess it should be expected from a powerful miko like you," Naraku said in malice tone.

"Flattering won't get you anywhere, Naraku," Kikyou warned.

"How did you know about my plan?" Naraku asked.

"From an ancient scroll that I found in treasure room at my home," Kikyou answered flatly.

Sesshoumaru who was watching the conversation between Kikyou and Naraku become very impatient. He didn't understand anything at all what they were talking. None of them seemed to make any effort to explain or say anything that made sense to him to him.

"Could somebody tell me what's going on here?" Sesshoumaru said impatiently, tired of being ignored.

"I told you before that Shikon Jewel is a powerful jewel that grants its user great power beyond imagination. Naraku wants to create it for his own use and the only way to create it is by combining a great number of human and youkai souls together. That's why he stole many souls from human and youkai," Kikyou explained without shifting her attention from Naraku.

"Then, how is Inuyasha related to his plan?" Kagome asked this time, interested with the topic too.

"Human and youkai souls have opposite nature. They are incompatible and instable to be combined together. Forcefully combining them together can be very fatal. Therefore, if you want to successfully in combining human and youkai souls, you need something to stabilize them. Something that can hold them together. And that something is the soul of a hanyou," Kikyou explained further.

"What is a hanyou?" Sango asked curiously.

"A hanyou is part human and part youkai. They are born from the union of a youkai and a human."

"That's still does not explain why Naraku wants Inuyasha," Kagome protested.

"Simple. Inuyasha is a hanyou. That's why I want him," Naraku spoke abruptly.

"So, you're the one who sent people to investigate Inuyasha," Kikyou said.

"Sharp as always," Naraku smirked.

Naraku's revelation shocked Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kouga. They always thought Inuyasha was a bit different from other youkai. But, they never thought he was a mixture of human and youkai.

"Let go of Inuyasha," Izayoi demanded, stepping forward with her arrow and bow in her hand like Kikyou.

"Unfortunately, I do not want to. He will go with me," Naraku said flatly.

Sesshoumaru, Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kouga get ready in their fighting stance. It was obvious that Naraku would not comply with their demand. If that was the case, they just needed to do it in the hard way. Before the group can attack, Naraku's poisonous insects blocked their path, creating a layer of defense around Naraku. This didn't weaken their determination. They attacked the insects. However, no matter how many insects that they killed, they still can't get through the defense created by the insects. It was as if there was no end to the insects' number.

Naraku watched them with amusement. He wanted to crush the group immediately. However, he also had other important thing that needed to be attended. He had a jewel to create and a world to conquer. He thought he was one step further to achieve his dream pleased him. So, he opted to retreat for now. He had what he wanted for now. He can always crush them anytime as soon as he got his hand on the jewel. He looked at Inuyasha who was sleeping soundlessly in his arms.

"You will help me to get what I want," Naraku whispered.

With that, Naraku disappeared into thin air along with Inuyasha as the wind suddenly blew strongly. Nobody could do anything to stop Naraku. They were too busy fighting with the insects. The only thing that they can do was watching Naraku took off with Inuyasha to some unknown place. Finally, after fighting with the insects for awhile, they managed to wipe out all of the insects.

"We need to find Inuyasha now!" Sesshoumaru said worriedly, trying as hard as he can to conceal his panic and worry but failed miserably.

Apparently, Sesshoumaru was not the only one who thought so. Inuyasha's friends wanted to find him too. They can sense that something terrible will happen if they didn't find Inuyasha as soon as possible. Kikyou didn't know what to say when she saw their distress face especially when Kagome came to her.

"That's right, Sis. We need to find him quickly," Kagome said, tugging her sister's sleeve.

"Patient, everyone. We cannot just rush like that. We need to form a plan and get help from other people," Izayoi said calmly. She may look calm but only god knew how worried she was.

"We can't just wait here and do nothing. Who know what Naraku does to Inuyasha right now? Besides, we can't expect help comes in a blink of eyes," Sesshoumaru protested.

"It's okay. Naraku won't do anything to Inuyasha for now. We still have time to call reinforcement," Kikyou stepped in.

"How you are so sure?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Like I said, Inuyasha is a hanyou. He has both strong youkai and spiritual power. Naraku cannot just steal Inuyasha's soul like that. Or else, he'll be purified by Inuyasha's spiritual power. Therefore, he must first drain and weaken Inuyasha's power. Besides, he can only create the jewel on the night of full moon. This should give us some time to come up a plan to rescue Inuyasha and destroy Naraku," Kikyou explained.

"Full moon! But, that's tonight right? Then, we should save him now," Sesshoumaru exclaimed.

As Sesshoumaru was about to turn around, preparing to leave to find Inuyasha, Izayoi spoke "Sesshoumaru, calm down. We don't even know where Inuyasha and Naraku is. Blindly searching for them only wastes our time and energy."

"We can't just sit around like this. It's better if we start searching for him now," Sesshoumaru argued.

"Well, it's not like you have anything that can be used to find Inuyasha's location," Izayoi pointed out.

Sesshoumaru was about to snap out at Izayoi when something clicked in his mind. He suddenly remembered something important that can help him to find Inuyasha. Without any delay, he searched frantically all of his pockets until he found the item that he searched. It was an acorn. Everyone looked curiously at Sesshoumaru who was holding the acorn with a smile. Kikyou recognized the acorn immediately.

"Hey, isn't that the hot item among teenagers right now? You keep one and give another one to your friend. This way you can communicate and know where your friend is.," Kikyou said.

"Yes and Inuyasha has the other acorn," Sesshoumaru answered.

"Then, we can know where he is now?" Kagome asked eagerly.

"That's right. Now, let's find him now. We need to find him as soon as possible," Sesshoumaru spoke, hoping Izaoi and Kikyou approved his intention.

"I know. But, we need a plan. Rushing without a plan like that is practically a suicide. Naraku isn't someone that can be taken down so easily. He's cunning and sly. I daresay that he probably has set traps for us if we come to rescue Inuyasha. It's better for us to heal our wounds and get help. I've gathered monks, exterminators and youkai who are willing to fight Naraku as much as possible," Kikyou argued.

"But…."

"Sesshoumaru, I never want Inuyasha to be harm. We'll set out as soon as we prepared ourselves. I doubt you're the only one who wants to destroy Naraku. Besides, the more helps we get, the higher our chance of winning," Kikyou continued.

Sesshoumaru could not argue back with Kikyou. He just nodded in defeat. There was truth in what she said. He needed to wait patiently. Nothing good will come out if he let his emotion get better of him. With that, he prayed silently for Inuyasha's safety. Everyone did the same thing too.


	19. Chapter 19: The Birth Of Shikon Jewel

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N. I'm back. It's been a long time since I last updated this fanfiction. Anyway, lets move on with the story.

Chapter 19: The Birth Of Shikon Jewel

Naraku walked into his castle with a satisfaction. So far, everything that he planned went smoothly. He got what he wanted. Although, he had to admit that he didn't expect Bankotsu and Tsubaki to die in the attack. They were very foolish for letting down their guard. However, it didn't matter to Naraku. He will get rid of them eventually. It was only the matter of time. He was not the type of person who is willing to share thing with other people. The jewel is his alone and nobody can have it. He smiled at this thought as he made his way to the North Tower of his castle.

He opened the door to a room in North Tower gently, trying not to wake up Inuyasha. It'll be too troublesome if the boy tried to escape or do something foolish when he woke up although he highly doubted the boy will be able to do anything with his condition. He had casted a spell on the necklace around the boy's neck to drain away the boy's energy. Then, once the boy was weakened, the crystal on the necklace will absorb his soul and acted as a core for Shikon Jewel.

Naraku entered a very large room. The room was the highest room in the North Tower. There were hundred of candles, illuminating the room enough to show anyone who entered the room countless of souls stolen by Naraku. Too many souls were gathered at the same place, causing the large room to look like a small room with no enough space to move. However, Naraku didn't mind this at all as long as it helped him to achieve his goal. He quietly put Inuyasha on a stone table.

Naraku proceeded to make full preparation for the ritual. Tonight is the full moon. He cannot let any mistake happen. It was not like she can find this castle easily. But, it was better for him to be extra careful. Or else, he needed to wait for another whole month for another chance to create the jewel. Naraku knew perfectly well that Kikyou will come out a plan and get helps to interfere with his plan. Most likely, she will attack him when nightfall since it was the best time to launch an ambush where he would be too busy creating the jewel to defense himself. Furthermore, he had lost his strong allies, making him more vulnerable.

Originally, Naraku wanted to dispose them after he had his hand on the jewel which didn't happen as he planned. However, this didn't mean he didn't have a backup plan. He always had a backup plan in case his original plan didn't work out. He had made sure his castle was heavily guarded by his minions and his poisonous insects. Sure, they were not as strong as Bankotsu, Tsubaki and Princess Ebi. But, their numbers were large. Kikyou and whatever helps that she got will have a hard time to kill them. This should buy him some time to create the jewel and combine with it. After that, no one can stop him. Not even Kikyou.

Nightfall…..

When Kikyou announced that all preparations had been made, Sesshoumaru and Izayoi did not wait long to decide to go with Kikyou. Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Kouga wanted to come too. They wanted to save Inuyasha. However, Kikyou and Izayoi forbid them. They are too young to get involved in a battle like this. There was no guarantee that Kikyou and Izayoi can keep them save. Of course, the children protested the decision. But, Sesshoumaru gave them one of his deadly glares, causing them to silently accept the decision.

Sesshoumaru waited with anticipation. Not far from him, there was a huge castle. Who would have thought in this isolated forest there was a castle. If it was not because of the acorn, they probably wouldn't know Inuyasha was here. It was obvious to everyone that the castle was heavily guarded. Attempting to break into the castle alone would be a suicide. Luckily, Kikyou managed to gather people who were willing to join in their fight with Naraku. They were exterminators, monks and human warriors. Kikyou also managed to get help from several youkai tribes. It made Sesshoumaru wondered how Kikyou managed to do that in such short time.

"Thank you so much for lending your strength to me," Kikyou started her speech. "As you all aware, the battle with Naraku will start soon. If we succeed, we will be able to release and return the souls stolen by Naraku to their rightful owner."

At this sentence, the eyes of most combatants were glittered with hope and fighting spirits. No doubt that many of them had relatives or beloved person whose soul was stolen by Naraku.

"Although defeating Naraku is important, our priority is to rescue a boy and souls held captive by Naraku. We cannot let Naraku harm them in any way. Or else, the victims will never recover. They will be an empty shelled doll for the rest of their life."

Many people had a darkened face when they heard this. Becoming an empty shelled doll for the rest of their life? That was no different than dying. Sesshoumaru was horrified at this thought.

"There is high probability that Naraku has imprisoned them at the North Tower of this castle. Therefore, as we have planned before, we will split into two groups. The first group will attack the castle while the second group will make their way to the North Tower for rescue mission. Since rescuing is our priority, the second group will be smaller than the first group, making them easier for them to sneak into the tower. Then, we will regroup to confront Naraku. If any group finishes its mission first, they will find and support another group."

A murmur can be heard from the crowd. Everyone seemed to agree with the suggestion. Kikyou raised her hand to dismiss the murmur.

"Is there any question about our strategy?" Kikyou asked. There was silence. Kikyou assumed there was no question and everyone agreed with the strategy. "Then, we will follow our plan as discussed before."

With that, they make their move. Everyone grabbed their weapons and split into two groups. The first group marched to the castle as planned, leaded by a well known, respected exterminator. Of course they met with resistant. In fact, it will be odd if there was no resistant at all. As soon as the first group was spotted, the guards sounded an alarm, alerting everyone that the castle was under attacked. They immediately went to their respective station to defense the castle, ready to fight the intruders. Everyone at Naraku and exterminator's side can predict that the battle ahead of them will be a fierce one.

And, it was true as predicted.

It was a very fierce battle. The clash of swords can be heard echoing throughout the forest. Not to mention, countless of arrows were shot to each other side. Neither sides wanted to give up for giving up meant they will suffer great consequences. For Naraku's side, losing meant facing Naraku's wrath which equal to facing their death. For the exterminator's side, losing meant unable to cure their beloved one. Worst, they may have to submit to Naraku's cruelty. They can't effort to lose.

Both sides had their own disadvantages and advantages. Naraku's army probably weaker compared to exterminator's group. The army was made up of weak youkai which were easily crushed by exterminator's group. However, Naraku's army outnumbered them. The exterminators probably were stronger but their strength had limit. They can't keep fighting forever against endless enemy. As a result, no one can decide the clear winner in this battle. Both sides had the opportunity to win and defeat each other.

As the first group fought against Naraku's army, the second group leaded by Kikyou made their way to the second group. Of course, the guards didn't let them pass through easily. They gave them a great fight. Without any hesitation, Sesshoumaru drew his sword. He had brought along another sword aside his Tenseiga. He knew Tenseiga was probably useless in this battle because it can't cut anything. But, it had healing power. Who knew he probably would need it. It saved Kikyou before after all.

Sesshoumaru slashed and cut enemy who came to attack him. Countless body of youkai can be seen scattered around the tower. However, it was very frustrating. The guards kept coming at them. It was endless. The signal kept stronger and stronger as they proceeded. However, they stuck here, dealing with these weak enemies. He felt as if their group was not making any progression. Ignoring the risk that he may face, he forcefully made his way to the highest room in the tower where he received the strongest signal.

"Sesshoumaru, don't stray away from us," Kikyou desperately shouted.

However, Sesshoumaru paid no heed. His mind was too focused on one thing. He just wanted to search Inuyasha as soon as possible. Kikyou and Izayoi could not do anything about it. The only thing that they could do was to stay as close as she can with Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru's heart beat faster as they came closer to the room where Inuyasha is held captive. He yelled on top of his lungs the person's name that he searched, hoping it will reach to that boy's ears.

"INUYASHA!"

Inuyasha stirred from his sleep. He felt very weak. Every thing was so hazy and blurred. For some reason, he felt someone was calling his name in a distress and worried tone. He couldn't understand why the caller was so distress and worried. This made him worried. Inuyasha had an urge to open his eyes which he did with difficulty. He scanned his surrounding. He was in an unknown room and not at outside hospital like he thought. This was strange. He could not figure out where he was now.

Inuyasha noticed that there was a person beside him. This person was not his mother or big brother. At first, he could not recognize this stranger. Then, the flow of memory entered into his mind, reminding him what had happened. Inuyasha immediately recognized the man as the person who had hurt him. What was this man's name again? Probably Naraku or something. However, this was not an important thing. He had another important thing to think like what he should do now.

Inuyasha's mind screamed badly at him to escape and run away as far as possible before something terrible happened. He agreed at this sugguestion. He tried to get up. But, his body didn't want to move at all no matter how hard he commended it. For some reason, he felt sleepy and weak. Inuyasha felt as if he can sleep for the whole two weeks without waking up. Never before, Inuyasha felt so helpless like this. He tried as hard as he can to remain conscious as Naraku stroke his hair.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you. Everything will be just fine," Naraku said with a smile.

Inuyasha just knew that Naraku was lying. Probably because of how he kidnapped him. Or, maybe because he said it with an obviously fake smile. Inuyasha wanted to speak but he was too tired and sleepy. He wanted to sleep badly. But, he could not effort to fall asleep. He felt he would never wake up if he did it. It was as if he was losing his life and approaching death. For some reason, this made him terrified. It became more terrifying when the white-turned-to-pink crystal started to glow intensely. He needed to find a way to stay awake and decided that speaking with this scary man may help it. It was hard to form a word but Inuyasha managed to speak.

"Who – who are you?" Inuyasha asked weakly.

"As I said before, I'm Naraku, the leader of Soul Stealer. You could say I'm the one who run around stealing other people's soul."

"What – what do you want from me?" Inuyasha began to feel worried.

"Your help." A short answer came from Naraku.

This could not be a good thing. But, his worry soon turned into anger when he remembered what Naraku had done. The man in front of him had hurt his family and friends. He sent some scary people to terrorize them. It made Inuyasha angrier when he noticed Naraku was still stroking his hair.

"Take your hand off from me. I don't know what you want. I'm going home," Inuyasha said bravely, glaring as best as he could.

Of course it would be very convincing and scary if he didn't talk in a weak, child like voice. Naraku smile in amusement. This child surely knew to put a brave front.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. You will **stay** here and you will **help** me. Even if you manage to escape and go home which I doubt greatly, I hunt you down and kill all your family and friend," Naraku threatened.

Inuyasha was horrified. "You – you're insane. I'm not going to help you."

"Don't worry. You're already helping me," Naraku chuckled.

Inuyasha didn't understand what Naraku meant. He didn't do anything at all. How on earth remaining limp on this table can be any help. Inuyasha wanted to ask more but his eyelids kept begging at him to close them, to drift into endless sleep. He tried very hard to stay awake but failed. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was Naraku's evil smile. With that, Inuyasha slipped into a pitch black world, remaining limp on the cold stone table.

Naraku smiled with satisfaction. The crystal had completely drained Inuyasha's energy and trapped his soul in it. Now, the only thing Naraku needed to do is to combine Inuyasha's soul with the stolen souls and the Shikon Jewel will be born. His dream to conquer the whole world is one step closer. Not very far away, Naraku could hear the clash of swords on the stairs. He knew that Kikyou's group is approaching him. They are coming closer and closer. With the intense aura that they emitted who would not know. He also sensed that his army was losing the battle. He needed to work quickly before they reached him.

He started to chant weird spells. The crystal started to glow, calling the stolen souls that floated in the air to combine together with it. As if answering the call, the stolen soul started to glow too. The room suddenly became very bright. Naraku ignore this bizarre occurrence and continued his chanting. Suddenly, as if attracted and pulled by an extreamly strong magnet, the stolen souls were pulled toward the crystal. Each soul tried desperately to merge with the crystal. Naraku was too focused with the chanting that he didn't realize anything at all until Sesshoumaru broke the room's door and burst into the room, followed by Kikyou and Izayoi.

Sesshoumaru wanted to charge at Naraku when something unexpected happened. Without any warning, the crystal suddenly emitted a blinding light, causing everyone in the room to shield his eyes. It took a moment for the bright light to calm down. When everyone opened their eyes, they were very shocked with what they saw. In front of them, floating on top of Inuyasha's body, there was a pink round jewel. It was emitting a great power. Naraku grabbed the jewel while everyone was still in a shock. It took a moment for them to truly understand what had happened.

The Shikon Jewel had been born.

They were too late.


	20. Chapter 20: The Final Confrontation

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N. I can't find how to put the kids in the battle. I mean who would ask or tell a kid to go battling and get themselves kill. I truly can't imagine how Izayoi and Kikyou do such thing. So, we will just have Izayoi, Sesshoumaru and Kikyou. Anyway, on with the story.

Chapter 20: The Final Confrontation

For a moment, there was a deadly silence. Each side was watching each other carefully. Kikyou bit her lips. They were too late. Naraku had his hand on the jewel now. If only they could reach here sooner, they probably can stop him. Kikyou shook her head. This was not the time to think like this. Right now, they needed to figure out what kind of action they should take. Should they fight him directly right here, right now? Kikyou did not think it was a wise decision for two reasons.

Firstly, Naraku was standing near to Inuyasha. He could use Inuyasha as his shield to block their attack. Even if he didn't have the intention, they needed to move him away from Inuyasha. They cannot let Inuyasha get harm in their battle. Not to mention, Inuyasha didn't look too good. He didn't response to any of their calls. Secondly, Naraku had the Shikon Jewel. Kikyou didn't want to admit but she can feel the great power radiating from the jewel. Who know what Naraku would do with such great power. Izayoi seemed to share the same opinion with Kikyou.

Naraku noticed their dilemma and taunted them, "Are you afraid of me? Don't you want to attack me?"

Of course Sesshoumaru didn't let that taunt slide away like that and said with deadly voice, "We are NOT afraid of you."

"Oh, you SHOULD be afraid of me. I have Shikon Jewel," Naraku answered with amusement.

"It still DIDN'T matter," Sesshoumaru said.

"It IS matter. Allow me to show a demonstration to you," Naraku said arrogantly.

With that, Naraku swallowed the jewel. As soon as he swallowed the jewel, his body began to transform. His eyes turned into red. His body grew bigger and bigger until his size was five times than average human's size. His armor became flashier and stronger. If that was not enough, he had many tentacles on his body. Everyone clearly didn't expect such transformation from Naraku.

"What's wrong? Too scared to move?" Naraku tried to provoke them to attack.

"I'm sure you are having delusion. We are not scared of you. In fact, I'm going to prove it by cutting you down," Sesshoumaru answered sarcastically as he tightened his grip on his sword.

Izayoi knew Naraku was trying to provoke them into attacking him and it seemed worked. She needed to calm down Sesshoumaru. She knew Sesshoumaru was not easy to be provoked. But, Naraku seemed to know how to fuel Sesshoumaru's anger. Izayoi feared that his stepson will do reckless thing in anger.

"Sesshoumaru, don't be reckless. He still has Inuyasha," Izayoi remained.

That made Sesshoumaru hesitated for a moment. Naraku saw the hesitation and he didn't plan to let it go away without taking full advantage on it.

"You don't need to worry about this child. I don't need him anymore," Naraku smirked, tossing Inuyasha like a rag doll at Izayoi.

Izayoi caught Inuyasha, making her fell from the impact. Izayoi shook his body badly, calling his name desperately. However, Inuyasha didn't give any reaction to his surrounding. Inuyasha was still remaining limp. His hand was very cold. Tears started to form on Izayoi's eyes at the sight of his son's condition. Of course, this was more than enough to send Sesshoumaru into his rage.

"Do not think you will get away from this, Naraku," Sesshoumaru hissed.

Of course, Naraku didn't pay any attention to this threat. What could a boy do to him? Besides, he had the most powerful jewel in the world. Nobody could defeat him. So, he purposely provoked Sesshoumaru to attack him. It would be fun to play around with him. However, Sesshoumaru didn't see it that way. Without any hesitation, he charged at Naraku with sword in his hands. He cut every tentacle that came at him, ignoring the consequences. This proved to be a mistake for every time he cut down the tentacle, poisonous miasma will come out from the cut.

At first, Sesshoumaru could handle it. The miasma didn't have much effect on him if it was in tolerable quantity. However, as he blindly cut down the tentacles, more poisonous miasma came out until Sesshoumaru could no longer stand it. The miasma was weakening him. If that was not worse enough, the tentacles kept regenerated. Each time Sesshoumaru cut them down, new tentacles will regenerate. It was as if there was no end to this situation. It was becoming more frustrating when none of his attacks inflicted wounds on Naraku.

"Foolish brat. The jewel and I have become one. No matter how many times you cut down my tentacles, they will grow again," Naraku laughed.

Sesshoumaru didn't pay any attention to what Naraku said. He just continued cutting down the tentacles. The room was almost filled with the miasma. Kikyou knew she needed to do something. If this kept up, they will either die in Naraku's hand or poison to death by the miasma. Without a delay, she shot several spiritual arrows to Naraku. As the arrows flew to their target, they purified the miasma. The arrows hit the target, wounding Naraku greatly.

If only it was as easy as that. Naraku did receive wounds. Some of them could bring immediate death to average youkai. Sadly, Naraku wasn't an average youkai especially when he had Shikon Jewel. It took a second for him to recover from such fatal wounds. It was as if Kikyou's arrow didn't hit him in the first place. The jewel had given him power to recover at an amazing speed that a normal youkai couldn't do.

"This is not enough, Kikyou," Naraku mocked.

Kikyou bit her lips as Naraku removed her arrows from his body as if nothing had happened. Her arrows didn't give the blow as she intended. However, at least, they didn't need to worry about the miasma for now. They needed to attack together instead of separately.

"Sesshoumaru, don't recklessly cut down Naraku's tentacles. That's what he wants us to do," Kikyou said.

"Then, what should we do?" Sesshoumaru asked, keeping his irritation and frustration tone down.

"Focus on attacking Naraku's main body and try to avoid unnecessarily cutting down his tentacles. They will just release more miasmas," Kikyou explained.

"I still fail to understand how this strategy can benefit us," Sesshoumaru spoke.

"Naraku get his power from the jewel. He must hide it somewhere in his main body since we all saw how he swallowed the jewel. If we can destroy the jewel, we can destroy Naraku."

"How you are so sure?"

"He told us himself that he and the jewel have become one, meaning his life is tied to the jewel."

"Meaning if the jewel is destroyed, Naraku will die."

"Correct."

Sesshoumaru followed Kikyou's strategy. Instead of blindly swinging his sword, he focused his attacks on Naraku's main body. He tried as best as he can to ignore the tentacles. However, it proved to be difficult especially when the tentacles blocked all his attacks and tried to kill him by making hole on his body. Kikyou tried as best as she can to support Sesshoumaru. Her bow and arrows were not suitable for close range battle. She cannot shoot the arrow properly if the enemy was too close to her.

Izayoi watched carefully the battle that happened in front of her eyes. She needed to help them. They needed her help. Carefully, she leaned Inuyasha against the wall, casting a barrier around him as a protection. She then grabbed her bow and carefully aimed her arrow. She closed her eyes with a hope to sense the jewel presence. She could feel it when the jewel was created. The jewel had distinctive aura than Naraku's. If she could pinpoint it's location in Naraku's body, they can focus their attack on that part.

She breathed deeply. She could sense it well. It was clouded with Naraku's aura but she was able to pinpoint the location. The jewel was near to Naraku's heart. Izayoi put as much spiritual power as she can in her arrow. She knew her power alone was not enough. At most, she can only crack open Naraku's chest. She needed Kikyou and Sesshoumaru's help to succeed.

"Kikyou-san, please shoot and pin down the tentacles as many as possible. Sesshoumaru, wait for a chance to attack," Izayoi ordered sternly, surprising Kikyou and Sesshoumaru.

They wanted to ask question but kept it to themselves. If it can make Izayoi very serious, it must be very important. Kikyou did what Izayoi ordered. She shot many arrows consecutively to pin down the tentacles on the ground and wall, keeping Naraku still and causing him unable to use his tentacles. It took Naraku by surprise. Izayoi saw this opportunity and quickly released her arrow. It hit perfectly on Naraku's chest, cracking it open. From the crack, a glimpse of round object can be seen. It was the Shikon Jewel.

"Sesshoumaru, attack him and destroy the jewel now," Izayoi shouted.

Sesshoumaru did not need Izayoi to tell him that. He charged on Naraku without a doubt. It was now or never. The arrows cannot hold Naraku for a long time. Since his tentacles had been pinned down, Naraku couldn't defense himself. He was basically a sitting duck. As Naraku struggled to free his tentacles, Sesshoumaru quickly pierced the jewel with his sword. Nobody dared to move. It was as if time stopped moving around. For a moment, there was an eerie silence, followed by a crack sound. Everyone waited in anticipation to find that…

Sesshoumaru's sword was broken into two and the jewel was still intact.

This really made everyone except Naraku shocked. For a moment, they thought their plan worked. In their confusion, Naraku managed to break free his tentacles and without giving Sesshoumaru time to dodge it, he hit him hard, sending him flew across the room. Izayoi and Kikyou gasped at this sight and ran to Sesshoumaru's side. Sesshoumaru was barely able to stand up. Naraku just smiled in amusement. The wound on his chest closed and healed at a faster rate than before.

"You come up with such a good plan. Unfortunately, it was not enough," Naraku chuckled. "Sorry to crush you hope but no weapons and spiritual power can destroy the jewel. After all, this jewel is made from countless human and youkai souls."

Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth. They were almost close. Is this really the end? Is there no other way or option? There has to be something that they can do to destroy the jewel. They cannot let Naraku had the jewel. Besides, they needed to save Inuyasha. He wanted to apologize badly to Inuyasha. He shouldn't have lost his temper like that. Sesshoumaru shook his head. This was no time to feel guilty. His sword was broken into two. The only sword he had now was Tenseiga. Unfortunately, Tensiga can't cut down Naraku. Basically, it was useless in this battle. That what Sesshoumaru's thought until….

He felt Tenseiga's pulse.

Sesshoumaru could feel it. The sword was begging him to use it. For a moment, Sesshoumaru was very confused. Why Tenseiga wanted him to use it? Sesshoumaru decided to ignore Tenseiga's cry. He had more important thing to handle like how to defeat Naraku. However, Tenseiga didn't keep quiet. Instead, it kept pulsing and pulsing, trying to get Sesshoumaru's attention. Finally, Sesshoumaru could no longer ignore Tenseiga.

"Do you wish me to use you?" Sesshoumaru asked mentally to Tenseiga.

Tenseiga pulsed again, giving a yes answer to Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru became more confused. What can Tenseiga do? It cannot do anything except healing people and…

Something clicked in Sesshoumaru's mind.

Of course, how could he have forgotten? If what he thought was true, there is a slim chance for them to win. They could do it. They can beat Naraku. They can destroy the jewel. The wound on Naraku's chest didn't properly close and heal since Izayoi put a great amount of spiritual power in her arrow. But, can the plan be executed properly? Naraku would be more careful now since they almost got him. Then again, Naraku was very arrogant. There maybe a chance for Naraku to let his guard down.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes. This was no time for hesitation. This was probably their last opportunity. He opened his eyes and gave a glace at motionless Inuyasha. He had to do it. He can't just ignore Inuyasha. Slowly, he drew out Tenseiga. Ignoring everything, he dashed forward with Tenseiga in his hand toward Naraku.


	21. Chapter 21: Tenseiga

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 21: Tenseiga

Shocked.

That was the first thing Kikyou and Izayou felt when Sesshoumaru dashed to Naraku, drawing out Tenseiga. Slowly, they became horrified. Sesshoumaru just practically jumped into dangerous situation without thinking. What can Tenseiga do? He can't kill Naraku with Tenseiga. Kikyou and Izayoi knew well that Tenseiga cannot cut anything. This meant only one thing. Sesshoumaru probably had lost his mind. His grief and rage had blind him from seeing anything. He had broken down. Naraku seemed to think the same thing.

"What's wrong? Can't accept your defeat?" Naraku smirked.

Sesshoumaru just ignored Naraku's taunt. He needed to focus on getting close to Naraku so he could strike him with Tenseiga. He knew Izayoi and Kikyou were shocked with his action. In fact, he was shocked too. He just practically acted based on an unfounded theory. He didn't even have a single clue whether the theory was true or not. Basically, he just took huge risk, betting his life on it without knowing the probability of its success. However, this was a desperate situation and desperate situation required desperate method.

Naraku find this as amusing. After all, it was fun to see people broke down and play them around. He sent his tentacles to Sesshoumaru, targeting the boy's legs and hands. There was no need to pierce the boy's heart instantly. That would spoil the fun. It was better to pierce the boy's legs first. The boy won't be able to stand up and had to crawl. Then, he would pierce the boy's other part of body, carefully avoiding vital organs just to hear the boy's scream. Izayoi and Kikyou could see what Naraku was planning through the look of his eyes and became very worried. They needed to stop Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru, don't be hasty! Come back here!" Izayoi called out.

"Don't act reckless! That's exactly what he wants you to do!" Kikyou shouted.

Sesshoumaru didn't have time to explain anything. It was complicated. He can't just tell them he acted based on some theory that he just developed within a few minute ago. Besides, he was too busy dodging Naraku's tentacles.

So, he just yelled out, "Listen, I have a plan. Just back me up and stop him from moving around."

Izayoi and Kikyou didn't sure on what to do. They can sense confidence and determination in Sesshoumaru's voice. However, they were hesitated. They were thorn apart between wanting to stop Sesshoumaru and wanting to help him out with whatever plan he had. For a moment, they foots were rooted to the floor. They just watched Sesshoumaru dodging and slashing the tentacles, trying as hard as he can not to inhale the miasma. Finally, Sesshoumaru has had it enough with their stupor. So, he shouted again. This time, it was more like pleading than demanding.

"Please, just help me out. I need to get close to Naraku to attack. I'll explain everything later!" Sesshoumaru shouted.

That really woke Izayoi and Kikyou from their stupor. They quickly chased away their hesitation. They really didn't know what Sesshoumaru wanted to do but he needed their help and they will give him the help that he needed. Without hesitation, Kikyou shot spiritual arrow to clean away the poisonous miasma that started to engulf the entire room, enabling Sesshoumaru to breathe properly. Then, she and Izayoi tried as best as they can to pin down Naraku's tentacles with her arrows. However, the same trick won't work twice. Naraku could see what Izayoi and Kikyou intended to do.

"Do you think the same trick will work twice," Naraku said.

Both Kikyou and Izayoi knew what Naraku said had some truth. So far, they didn't manage to pin down a single tentacle. They knew they cannot really expect the same trick to work twice. However, they could not let Sesshoumaru did whatever he planned to do all by himself. He will get himself killed. So, Kikyou and Izayoi changed their strategy. Instead of pinning down Naraku's tentacles, they decided to draw Naraku's attention to them. This should distract Naraku from Sesshoumaru and Sesshoumaru will be able to get close to Naraku to attack. But, how to do that?

"You should surrender now. If you do, I promise I'll make you my queen, Kikyou," Naraku offered.

"I'm sorry. I'm not interested with the offer. I don't want a husband with ugly tentacles on his body," Kikyou said in disgust.

"What did you say? I'm the most powerful man in the world right now. I have Shikon Jewel. You cannot defeat me," Naraku hissed in anger.

Kikyou knew immediately how to draw Naraku's attention to them. Naraku hated to be called ugly. She could use it to hurt his pride. Apparently, Izayoi thought the same thing.

"At least, I do not have some ugly body," Kikyou taunted.

"I wonder if anyone would like you with ugly body like that," Izayoi added.

That really made Naraku angry, "How dare you insult me like that!"

With that, Naraku started to focus his attacks on Kikyou and Izayoi. He summoned more tentacles to come out from his body. He didn't care anything anymore. He no longer cared about Sesshoumaru. That boy can't do anything after all. He could finish him off at any time. Of course, Izayoi and Kikyou didn't just stand there and did nothing. They shot their arrows at any tentacles that came at them and casted a barrier around them to block the attacks.

"What's wrong, Naraku? Don't tell me you can't accept a simple truth, right?" Izayoi fueled Naraku's anger.

"Our comments can't hurt you that badly," Kikyou mocked.

"How dare you! I'll make you suffer until you wish death more than anything!" Naraku yelled.

His yell stopped when his eyes caught Inuyasha's limp body. A plan immediately was formed in his mind. Oh, yeah. He knew perfectly well on how to make them suffer. Kikyou and Izayoi become very worried when they saw evil smile was formed on Naraku's face. They knew Naraku was up to something and it was true.

"In fact, I know exactly how to do it," Naraku said with evil smile. "I'll rip this brat apart in front of you!"

Without any warning, Naraku grabbed Inuyasha with his tentacles. At first, the barrier around Inuyasha resisted Naraku's tentacles. However, Naraku's power was stronger than the barrier. With a sheer force, the barrier was destroyed. Kikyou and Izayoi gasped in horror.

"INUYASHA!" they yelled.

Naraku smirked in satisfaction. His plan worked. After all, the best way to make people suffered was always targeting their beloved one. Kikyou and Izayoi's horrified look pleased him to no end. Naraku grabbed Inuyasha by his neck, hanging him in the air a few feet from the ground.

"Let's see. What should we do with this brat?" Naraku asked, pretending to think deeply to find solution for this 'problem'. Then, his face lightened up as if he had found the answer to his so called 'problem'. "I know let's make a hole on this brat's chest. Then, we can give his body to some stray youkai to be eaten."

"Put Inuyasha down, Naraku!" Izayoi demanded as she and Kikyou prepared their arrow.

"I afraid I can't do so," Naraku smirked and enjoyed their defeated look when he continued, "And I suggest that you put down your arrow. You don't want to accidentally hit your own son, right? If you follow my suggestion, I may consider releasing this brat and all of you, including those who join you."

Kikyou and Izayoi were hesitated. They knew they didn't have any choice but to obey Naraku's 'suggestion'. However, they also knew Naraku was not an honorable man. The minute the put down their weapon, Naraku will surely break his promise. He will kill Inuyasha and all of them. Naraku saw their hesitation. His eyes flashed dangerously to affirm his threat. He focused his entire poisonous miasma on one of his tentacles.

"I see. Since you refused my suggestion, I guess this brat has to pay the price," Naraku said evilly, aiming Inuyasha's heart with the poisoned tentacle.

However, the tentacle never reached Inuyasha for someone had stabbed Naraku through the wound on his chest. It was Sesshoumaru. Naraku silently cursed his carelessness. He was so focused on Kikyou, Izayoi and Inuyasha that he failed to notice Sesshoumaru coming close to him. So close, that he was able to stab Naraku's chest, the exactly location where Shikon Jewel lie. However, Sesshoumaru didn't apply enough pressure to allow Tenseiga's blade to reach and pierce the jewel. Sesshoumaru knew he needed to pierce the jewel with Tenseiga.

Without thinking, Sesshoumaru applied more pressure on his sword, getting closer and closer to the jewel. Sesshoumaru ignored everything around him. He ignored Naraku's rage shout. He ignored Izayoi and Kikyou's shocked cry. He just focused on how to pierce the jewel with Tenseiga. Naraku hissed in pain. For some reason, Naraku's instinct desperately warned him to distant himself from this middle school boy. It kept telling him that the boy had something that imposed threat to him. Naraku immediately dropped Inuyasha on the ground and commanded his tentacles to focus their attack on Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru saw it coming to him but he wouldn't budge at all. This was probably his last chance. Besides, Tenseiga was an inch from the jewel. Sesshoumaru kept pushing Tenseiga to the jewel, bracing for the impact from the thentacle's whip. However, before Naraku could lay his tentacles on Sesshoumaru, Kikyou and Izayoi shot arrows to Naraku, effectively blocking Naraku's attacks. Well, for a moment. But, that was more than enough for Sesshoumaru. His determination increased as he heard encouragement from Izayoi and Kikyou.

"You can do it, Sesshoumaru! I know you can do it!" Izayoi encouraged.

"Don't give up!" Kikyou shouted.

With that, he increased his pressure on the sword, piercing the jewel in the process. The jewel cracked. At first, the crack was small. Then, the crack became bigger and bigger before the jewel shattered into pieces. Bright light engulfed the room as countless of souls inside it made their escape. The light was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes. The souls floated in the air for a moment before abruptly scattering around, finding their way to their owner's body.

"NOOOOOO!" Naraku screamed in agony.

His agony scream echoed throughout the castle and forest, startling and almost stopping the raging battle outside the castle. For a moment, Naraku's army wasn't sure what to do. Should they stay here and fight? Or, should they run away? At first, it was only a hesitation. Then, it turned into panic as they saw countless of souls escaped from the North Tower, the exact location where Naraku was. They started to fear their safety as the sole reason why they were fighting this battle was because of Naraku's power. They were weak youkai. If Naraku was defeated, what chance they had to win the battle and survive?

It didn't take a long time for the panic to spread and break. Soon, Naraku's army started to scatter around. They were no longer in their battle position. They started to run away and abandon the battle field. The exterminators and the monks took this opportunity to press Naraku's side. Soon, it was crystal clear who the winner was. It was the exterminator's group. They want to cheer and celebrate their victory. But, they knew it was too early. They needed to make sure everything was right and Naraku was dead.

As Naraku screamed in agony, he slashed Sesshoumaru with his tentacle. Sesshoumaru was barely able to dodge it. He picked up Inuyasha from the ground by his waist, leaping as far as he can out of the tentacle's range. Unfortunately, Naraku managed to grab Sesshoumaru's leg and dragged Sesshoumaru to him, causing Sesshoumaru to drop Inuyasha down. Sesshoumaru struggled desperately to free himself. Izayoi grabbed Sesshoumaru's waist and pulled him as hard as she can away from Naraku. Kikyou tried as best as she can to free Sesshoumaru from Naraku's grip.

"You're going to die!" Naraku yelled, preparing to rip them apart with his tentacles when the tentacles suddenly… melted away.

It started from his tentacle's tip before spreading to other part of his body. Naraku felt as if his body was dipped in a hot volcano's lava. The pain was unbearable. He wanted to scream, to let the world knew his pain but his pride stopped him from doing so. He didn't know what had happened. Then, sudden realization came to Naraku's mind. He was dying. The jewel was destroyed and since his life was tied to the jewel, he too will disappear from this world forever. Naraku then cast away his tentacles in an effort to stop his body's destruction. However, it didn't work. Instead, his body melted away faster and faster.

"No….. no….. this can't be happening!" Naraku shouted in denial. "I can't die now. I have a world to conquer!"

However, his dream will never come true as his body completely melted away, evaporated into thin air, leaving nothing behind. Kikyou, Izayoi and Sesshoumaru were transfixed before letting out their relieved sigh. They then shifted their attention to Inuyasha who was lying down on his stomach. Sesshoumaru quickly turned him around and squeezed his hand.

It was cold. Very cold.

For a moment, Sesshoumaru felt scared. What if Inuyasha was dead? He was human right now. What he got hurt when Naraku dropped him on the ground? Kikyou and Izayoi were worried too. They too seemed to think the same thing. Then, a soul came to them and entered Inuyasha's body. Inuyasha's body started to glow and transform to his hanyou form. His dark hair became silver hair. His claws and fangs grew back. Kikyou, Izayoi and Sesshoumaru looked shocked.

Slowly, Sesshoumaru called out Inuyasha softly, "Inuyasha."

No movement from Inuyasha at all.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru called out again.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's ears twitched, making everyone gasped. They twitched once and then twice. Everyone waited with anticipation. Then, slowly, Inuyasha opened his eyes.

p.s. Okay, one more chapter and this story will be finished.


	22. Chapter 22: The Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Chapter 22: The Aftermath

Darkness.

Everything was engulfed in darkness. Inuyasha didn't know where he was. There was no one. There was no light. There was nothing at all. Inuyasha didn't like this at all. He didn't want to be stuck in this scary place. He tried to call out his family with a hope they will come and get him out from this place.

"Mom….."

Silence. No reply at all. Only the echo of his trembling voice.

"Sesshy…."

Another silence. Inuyasha wanted to cry. He hated this place. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be with his mother and brother. He wanted to apologize to Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha was about to cry loud when…..

"Inuyasha."

He heard someone called out to him softly and faintly. He didn't know who called him out. Strangely, he felt familiar with that voice. Judging from the voice's tone, he knew that person was very worried about him.

"Inuyasha."

Inuyasha heard that voice again. This time it was clearer and there was light. At first, it was small and then, it got bigger and bigger, engulfing him. It felt very warm and comfortable. Soon, he found himself opening his eyes to see….

Sesshoumaru, his mother and Kagome's sister, Kikyou.

They all looked worriedly at him. Inuyasha didn't understand. He felt so weak and extremely tired. There are so many things that he wanted to ask them and yet, it seemed his mouth can only say a single short sentence, making Inuyasha thinking hard on what to say. Should he ask them what had happened? Or, should he tell them not to worry about him? Thinking hard made Inuyasha more tired and sleepy. He tried as hard as he can to stay conscious. Finally, he opted to say something that he wanted to say the most.

"Sesshy…," Inuyasha said in weak voice.

"Yeah….its me," Sesshoumaru answered softly, squeezing Inuyasha's hand to indicate that he was beside him.

"I'm sorry…."

Sesshoumaru's body tensed. He didn't expect that Inuyasha would say something like that. He waited patiently for Inuyasha to continue.

"….for yelling 'I hate you' to you…. I …..didn't mean it….," Inuyasha's voice trailed off.

Sesshoumaru was chocked at hearing these words. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

"I – I'm sorry too. I – I shouldn't hit you hard," Sesshoumaru said awkwardly. After all, apologizing wasn't one of his skills.

Inuyasha just smiled as if acknowledging that he had heard Sesshoumaru's apology and accepted it. Then, he went limp, causing Sesshoumaru to be a little panicked.

"Inuyasha…. Inuyasha… Are you okay?" Sesshoumaru asked desperately.

He became more worried when Inuyasha didn't give any response to him at all. Kikyou quickly checked Inuyasha's pulse and breathing. She sighed with a relief.

"It's okay. He's still alive. He's just sleeping. I guess he's not fully recovered from the energy drain. He'll be okay after he gets some rest," Kikyou reassured Sesshoumaru with a smile.

Sesshoumaru didn't want to really admit it but he was almost got a heart attack when Inuyasha went limp. But, it's okay now. Everything was okay now. Inuyasha was safe. Naraku had been destroyed. Everything ended perfectly. Now, he can relax without worrying anything. Sesshoumaru suddenly felt tired. He just wanted to go home and sleep now. Izayoi seemed to be able to notice this.

Placing her hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder, Izayoi said softly, "Let's go home. I think everyone here deserve to have a good rest."

"Before that, how did you know Tenseiga can destroy the jewel?" Kikyou asked curiously.

It still amazed her how a sword that cannot cut anything can destroy such powerful jewel. Izayoi wondered the same thing too. However, she was grateful that Sesshoumaru had Tenseiga. Or else, who knew what their fate would be? They listened attentively as Sesshoumaru explained.

"It's easy. Tenseiga may not be able to cut down living thing but it can cut down souls and anything made up of souls," Sesshoumaru explained. "And, since Shikon Jewel is made up of souls…."

It took a moment for the information to sink in their head. They gasped in surprise as they caught up with Sesshoumaru's explaination.

"Yeah, that's right. Tenseiga can destroy the jewel since the jewel is made up of countless souls," Sesshoumaru finished his explaination.

"Well. I guess that explain everything. But, for now, you should rest," Izayoi said.

Sesshoumaru just nodded in agreement. He was very tired to argue with his stepmother. He didn't care about anything at all. Sesshoumaru couldn't really remember what really happened after that. He just remembered their group suddenly rushed them to nearby hospital. There were a lot of chatters, asking a lot of questions. However, Sesshoumaru didn't pay any mind at all. He was too tired to answer them at all. Then, he fall asleep. He didn't know how long. But, it must be very long since he woke up at late afternoon.

When he woke up, he found that he was in the hospital. Sesshoumaru felt good and refreshed. All his injuries in the battle were almost healed. He looked around and found that Inuyasha was sleeping on a bed next to him. Izayoi was sitting between them, peeling an apple. She smiled warmly at Sesshoumaru when she saw he had woken up. She then offered him the peeled apple which Sesshoumaru accepted happily.

"How's Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru asked after finishing his apple.

"He's fine. He's been sleeping for the whole time. But, the doctor said that he should wake up anytime right now," Izayoi answered.

Their conversation was interrupted when Inuyasha stirred in his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, rubbing them with his tiny hand. He then let out a big yawn. Sesshoumaru and Izayoi chuckled at the sight of Inuyasha. They won't say it loud but Inuyasha was cute when he yawned like that.

Looking at his family, Inuyasha asked, "How long did I sleep?"

"For the whole day," Izayoi answered. "Do you want some apples?" Izayoi offered Inuyasha a plate of apple.

"Yeah." Munching quietly, Inuyasha asked, trying to hide his worry which he failed miserably, "So, what happened to that scary guy? He's still not out there, right?"

"No, he's gone. You don't need to worry about him anymore," Izayoi soothed Inuyasha.

"So, I really don't need to worry about him? I can go anywhere without expecting him attacking us?" Inuyasha asked.

"Of course you don't need to worry about him. You can go anywhere you want," Sesshoumaru frowned.

"Really?"

"That's right."

"So, can you take me to amusement park then?" Inuyasha asked with pleading eyes.

Oh, no. Sesshoumaru was caught off guard. That wasn't exactly in his mind. It was way too troublesome the last time he took Inuyasha and his friends to amusement part. But, Inuyasha was looking at him with pleading eyes. He couldn't say no to Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru mentally cursed himself for being soft to Inuyasha.

"Okay. I'll take you there after we get out from this hospital and if Mother and Father allow us," Sesshoumaru said.

"Yeah!" Inuyasha exclaimed happily.

Suddenly, someone knocked the door politely. It turned out to be Kikyou and Inuyasha's friends. They brought a basket full of fruits, chocolates, cake and some flowers as a gift to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha was happy to see his friends especially when they brought his favorite chocolate.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, you really scared us when you change," Miroku said without realizing that he wasn't suppose to say something like that. He put his hand on his mouth when he realized it. Izayoi and Kikyou had told them not to talk about it in front of Inuyasha.

"Huh – what are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked confusedly.

Sango was quickly covering up Miroku, "Nothing. Anyway, how are you?"

"I'm fine. See," Inuyasha put up a strong front to his friends which earned chuckled from everyone.

Well, not everyone. Kouga remained silence. It seemed he was struggling on something. After awhile, he finally mustered a gut to say something.

"Inuyasha…." Kouga asked with uncertainty, unsure how to approach this subject which caught everyone's attention. "…..I'm sorry." He frowned when Inuyasha didn't understand, "Look, I'm sorry for being such a bad guy to you."

Inuyasha blinked. He hesitated for a moment. Did he hear correctly? It can be some sort of joke, right? Kouga can't be apologizing to him, right? This must be some sort of dream, right? Inuyasha pinched himself. It was hurt. So, this can't be a dream. Kouga really apologize to him. It was kind of nice. Kouga didn't like this built up tension. But, it disappeared as Inuyasha opened his mouth.

"Sure, I forgive you," Inuyasha said much to Kouga's relief.

"Then, since everyone is here, why don't we start digging in?" Kikyou clapped her hands in excitement, breaking the awkward situation.

That really set everyone in a good mood. Kagome cheerfully brought out a very large chocolate cake. That really made Inuyasha happy because he liked chocolate cake. Sango took out plates enough for everyone. Izayoi was more than happy to cut the cake for everyone. Soon, everyone started to eat their cake. The room was loud with laughter and chatter until…..

Someone burst into the room, yelling on top of his lung.

"Inuyasha! Sesshoumaru! Are you alright?" Inutaisho yelled, startling everyone.

He was panting heavily. Obviously, he was running on top of his speed without resting. Before anyone can say anything, he started to shout around.

"Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? Tell me. I'll kill whoever did this to you."

Before he could continue shouting more, Izayoi pulled his ear.

"Ouch, what are you doing?" Inutaisho asked.

"To stop you from shouting. The kids are staring at you," Izayoi answered.

"But…." Inutaisho wanted to argue but held it when he saw the kids are staring him as if he had lost his mind.

Izayoi sighed. "Don't worry. Everything is fine. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are okay. I'll tell you everything after we enjoy our little party."

"Yeah, that's right, Father. This cake is delicious. You should eat it before it gone," Inuyasha exclaimed cheerfully with his mouth full.

"You shouldn't talk while eating. Look at you, you're covered with icing," Sesshoumaru said, wiping the icing from Inuyasha's mouth.

To say Inutaisho was shocked was an understatement. Did Sesshoumaru just care Inuyasha? Up until now, he never saw Sesshoumaru showed any types of brotherly affection to Inuyasha.

He was even shocked when Inuyasha said, "Father, Sesshoumaru said he will take me to amusement park."

Okay, that was really shocking. Sesshoumaru would never say something like that. He didn't even want to walk together with Inuyasha to the school. This must be some sort of prank. Inutaisho gave a questioning look at Izayoi.

Izayoi just shrugged. "I'll tell you everything at home. You won't believe what happened when you were absent."

Oh, he would be very surprised when he heard the whole story. But, for now, he just wanted to spend his time with his family.

p.s. Okay, that's the end of this fanfiction. For those who review and reading this story, I want to say thank you very much. It never occurs to me that I will write such long story for my first time.


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